Chinese Apple supplier 'stole' Taiwan trade secrets
Tech firm ‘poached talent’ to exploit Apple production chain | Taiwanese prosecutors charge 14 over violations.
A Chinese supplier of Apple products stands accused of stealing trade secrets from a Taiwanese company in what prosecutors say was a bid to poach business and lure employees from Taiwan’s tech industry.
Following an 18-month investigation, Taiwanese prosecutors claim that China’s Luxshare Precision Industry had targeted Taiwanese rival Catcher Technology “in order to quickly enter the Apple production chain to win orders”.
The Taiwan New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, which announced the case on Friday, July 15, has charged 14 former China-based R&D team members from Catcher for “breach of trust and violation of business secrets” for use overseas.
“The department will do its best to investigate such cases to maintain the sound development of our country’s enterprises and ensure the competitiveness of national industries,” the Prosecutor's Office said.
Catcher, which manufactures iPhone and iPad cases, said in a statement on its website that it is cooperating with the investigation. “Catcher continues to implement and optimise the measures related to the protection of business secrets and intellectual property rights.”
Prosecutors accuse Luxshare of tempting Catcher’s talent with high salaries, and stealing trade secrets from Catcher, causing them “big losses”, the office said in a statement.
Luxshare’s motive was to “quickly build factories and mass-produce cases for iPhones, iPads and other products”, it added.
Trade secrets trend
This is the latest in a proliferation of cases in which Chinese tech firms have been accused of stealing trade secrets from rivals in Taiwan.
In January 2019, Taiwanese authorities investigated employees of German chemical company BASF, accused of leaking company secrets to a Chinese rival.
And in May 2022, Taiwanese authorities raided 10 Chinese companies or their R&D centres operating in Taiwan without approval, suspected of illegally poaching chip engineers and other tech talent.
Alleged breaches of IP, including acts of espionage, by Chinese operatives and companies have for years been a significant source of tension between US and Chinese governments.
For example, in April 2018, the US Department of Justice charged two men with conspiracy to commit economic espionage on behalf of a Chinese company.
And in November 2018, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) released an update on China’s alleged “global espionage campaign” aimed at stealing technology and IP in commercial aerospace and semiconductor technology.
The Chinese government rejected the claims, and in December 2018, it announced its plan to impose stricter punishments for IP infringements.
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