Taiwan court hands down jail terms in TSMC trade secrets case

A court in Taiwan has fined the local unit of Japan’s Tokyo Electron $5m, and sentenced five defendants to jail terms of up to 10 years, in a high-profile trade secrets case involving chipmaker TSMC.

The ruling follows one of Taiwan’s most prominent cases related to the island’s core technologies, involving the alleged theft of TSMC’s sensitive computer chip technology and charges under the National Security Act.

In August 2025, prosecutors indicted Chen Li-ming, a former TSMC and Tokyo Electron employee, on suspicion of unlawfully obtaining trade secrets, along with other defendants, in a bid to help Tokyo Electron win more equipment orders from TSMC.

Chen was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with three other former employees of the world’s largest contract manufacturer of advanced AI chips receiving terms ranging from two to six years.

The court in Taipei’s sister city of New Taipei also gave a former Tokyo Electron employee a 10-month sentence, suspended for three years.

Tokyo Electron and TSMC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.