Taiwan’s Intellectual Property and Commercial Court handed down prison terms this week for a ring that siphoned confidential data from TSMC’s cutting‑edge 2‑nanometer process. Former yield engineer Chen Li‑ming received the harshest sentence—10 years—while two colleagues, Wu Ping‑chun and Ko Yi‑ping, got three and two years respectively. The case marks the first corporate prosecution under Taiwan’s National Security Act.

Investigators found that Chen, after moving to Tokyo Electron Taiwan’s marketing unit, asked Wu and Ko for detailed schematics of etching equipment used in the 2‑nm node. The stolen designs were photographed and stored on the supplier’s cloud, allowing Tokyo Electron to benchmark and tweak its tools. The company now faces a NT$150 million fine, partially suspendable upon payment of compensation to TSMC and the treasury.

Authorities also convicted a fourth defendant, Lu Yi‑yin, who received a 10‑month suspended sentence and a NT$1 million fine for allegedly destroying evidence. Tokyo Electron Taiwan was fined NT$120 million for supervisory lapses, while the firm’s cloud still housed older TSMC process data down to the 14‑nanometer node. The verdict reinforces Taiwan’s zero‑tolerance stance on semiconductor IP theft.