Wire · regulatory
Ex-TSMC employees receive final sentences in trade secret leak case
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Fusion42 · 30 July 2026 · Fusion42 review
Former TSMC employees have received final prison sentences of up to 10 years for leaking trade secrets related to 2nm and 14nm processes to equipment supplier Tokyo Electron Taiwan. The case marks the first corporate indictment under Taiwan's National Security Act for the leakage of "national core key technologies."
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◆ ◆ The Wire takeaway
Poaching semiconductor talent in Taiwan is no longer a commercial risk; it's now treated as a national security crime. A decade in prison is the new penalty for engineers who bring trade secrets with them, and the company doing the hiring faces indictment.
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