Former TSMC employee leaked secrets to Samsung, Taiwan Supreme Court says

The Supreme Court in Taiwan has upheld a ruling that a former employee of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) leaked secrets about the company's 28nm process technology to Samsung, according to EETimes.

Liang Mong-song, a former senior director of R&D at TSMC's Advanced Modules Technology Division, worked for the company for 17 years before resigning to “spend time with his parents” and teach, according to CommonWealth Magazine, which suggested that Liang's resignation stemmed from his dissatisfaction with TSMC after he was passed up for a promotion. When he resigned, Liang signed a non-compete agreement that would have forced him to forfeit half of the stock he received as a bonus from TSMC if he found employment with a competitor within two years of his resignation.

TSMC later discovered that Liang was teaching at Sungkyunkwan University, a private research university which has ties with Samsung. But after reassurances from Liang that nothing untoward was happening, TSMC paid out Liang's bonus after two years. In 2011, once that payout was complete, Liang became Samsung's System LSI division chief technology officer.