On Monday, a court in Taiwan, China, rendered its first-instance verdict in the high-profile "TSMC inside espionage case." The individuals implicated in this case encompass four former and current employees from TSMC, Japan's Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL), as well as one female executive from TEL. The main perpetrator, Chen Liming, a former engineer at TSMC, was handed a 10-year prison sentence for his role in stealing confidential documents that contained crucial trade secrets related to TSMC's core technology. His accomplices, Wu Bingjun, Yi Yiping, and Chen Weijie, received prison terms of 3 years, 2 years, and 6 years, respectively. Lu Yiyin, a female executive at TEL, was sentenced to 10 months in prison, followed by a 3-year probation period, and the company itself was fined NT$150 million. It's important to note that the case is open to appeal. After departing from TSMC, Chen Liming joined TEL and, beginning in mid-2023, managed to acquire confidential TSMC documents through his former colleagues. He then reached out to Chen Weijie to furnish relevant information. As of the time of reporting, TEL had refrained from making any comments on the matter.