On December 3, Taiwanese prosecutors unveiled additional charges against the Taiwanese arm of Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL), a Japanese firm, along with three defendants, for their alleged involvement in stealing trade secrets tied to TSMC’s 2-nanometer chip manufacturing process. Earlier, following the recruitment of Chen Liming, an ex-TSMC engineer, by TEL’s Taiwanese subsidiary, he conspired with two serving TSMC engineers, Wu Bingjun and Ge Yiping, to access etching machine mass production test data. Leveraging remote access to TSMC’s internal network and smartphone photography, they pilfered key parameters, leading to the unauthorized duplication of hundreds of documents pertaining to the 2-nanometer manufacturing process. Prosecutors highlighted that TEL’s Taiwanese subsidiary, which held supervisory oversight over Chen Liming, neglected to enact concrete preventive measures. The subsidiary now faces four charges, encompassing breaches of the Trade Secrets Act and the National Security Act, with a proposed fine of NT$120 million. Chen Liming and his two accomplices had already been indicted, with prosecutors seeking prison terms of 14 years, 9 years, and 7 years, respectively. In response, TEL confirmed the dismissal of the implicated employees and denied any organizational culpability or data breaches, while pledging to enhance its compliance frameworks and review protocols.