February 28th news, according to the latest reports from foreign media, more than five years after the U.S. Department of Commerce listed Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd. as an entity posing a threat to national security, San Francisco district judge Maxine M. Chesney ruled the company not guilty after a non-jury trial.
Maxine M. Chesney concluded that the U.S. prosecutors failed to prove that Fujian Jinhua misappropriated proprietary data from Micron Technology, Inc., the largest U.S. memory chip manufacturer, which was allegedly passed on through United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) during manufacturing dealings with Fujian Jinhua.
After UMC admitted to stealing trade secrets and paid a $60 million fine in 2020, it assisted the Department of Justice in the case against Fujian Jinhua.
According to the statement from the U.S. Department of Justice when the case was first filed, Fujian Jinhua could have faced fines and been ordered to forfeit chips and revenues obtained through the alleged theft of technology if convicted.
In February 2016, Fujian Electronics Information Group, Jinjiang Energy Investment Group Co., Ltd., and others jointly funded the establishment of DRAM memory manufacturing enterprise Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd., through cooperation with UMC technology. The operation was structured with Fujian Jinhua providing the funding while UMC was entrusted with developing DRAM memory-related technology.
In September 2017, Micron suddenly accused UMC in Taiwan of helping UMC develop 32nm DRAM with employees who had jumped from Micron and stolen its DRAM trade secrets.
In December 2017, Micron filed a lawsuit against Fujian Jinhua and UMC in a federal court in California, claiming that UMC stole its intellectual property, including key DRAM technology, through employees in Micron's Taiwan region and delivered it to Fujian Jinhua.
In January 2018, Fujian Jinhua sued Micron over patent infringement on a series of products sold in China, demanding Micron to immediately cease infringing Jinhua's patents and seeking damages of 196 million CNY.
In July 2018, the Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court ruled that Micron Semiconductor Sales (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. must immediately stop selling, importing over ten models of Crucial branded solid-state drives and memory sticks and related chips, and delete advertisements and purchase links for these products on its website. Micron Semiconductor (Xi'an) Co., Ltd. was also ordered to immediately cease manufacturing, selling, and importing several memory stick products.
In October 2018, citing national security, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced export controls on Fujian Jinhua, adding it to the "Entity List."
On November 1, 2018, the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California criminally charged Jinhua Integrated and UMC with conspiring to steal Micron's trade secrets. The indictment also mentioned three Taiwanese men, Chen Zhengkun, He Jian, and Wang Yongming, all former Micron employees suspected of stealing Micron technology when they switched to UMC.
In June 2020, the Taichung District Court pronounced its judgment on Micron's lawsuit against UMC for stealing trade secrets. He Jian was sentenced to 5 years and 6 months in prison with a fine of 5 million New Taiwan dollars; Wang Yongming received 4 years and 6 months with a 4 million New Taiwan dollars fine; UMC's deputy manager, Rong Letian, was sentenced to 6 years and 6 months in prison with a 6 million New Taiwan dollars fine; UMC was fined 100 million New Taiwan dollars.
In October 2020, UMC settled with the U.S. Department of Justice, paying a $60 million fine, after which the charges were dropped.
