A Chinese state-owned company was charged with conspiring to steal trade secrets of U.S. chipmaker Micron Technology Inc. as the Justice Department steps up actions against China in cases of suspected economic espionage.
Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co. and Taiwan’s United Microelectronics Corp. were indicted in California along with three individuals, according to court papers unsealed Thursday in federal court. The U.S. also filed a civil case seeking to stop exports to America of any products manufactured by the companies that were created using the trade secrets at issue.
The charges come as Attorney General Jeff Sessions plans to announce Thursday a new initiative to respond to Chinese efforts to obtain American technology and trade secrets, whether through hacking or theft by insiders, according to a U.S. official.
Sessions is ordering the FBI and the department’s National Security Division, led by John Demers, to step up enforcement, the official said. The Justice Department will select five U.S. attorneys to be part of the initiative.
Micron is the only U.S.-based company that manufactures dynamic random-access memory, or DRAM. China didn’t possess DRAM technology before the alleged theft, and the Chinese government publicly identified the development of DRAM and other microelectronics technology as a national economic priority.
The criminal case is USA v. United Microelectronics Corp., 3:18-cr-00465, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose). The civil case is U.S.A v. United Microelectronics Corp., 5:18-cv-06643, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).
(Published by Bloomberg, November 1, 2018)