Stefan Mileschin

Smoking the peace pipe

US chipmaker Micron and Taiwanese peer UMC have withdrawn complaints against each other following a years long legal dispute over intellectual property (IP).

UMC will make a onetime payment to Micron of an undisclosed amount, the pair said in separate statements, without elaborating on reasons for their withdrawal agreement.

Micron had accused UMC of misappropriating trade secrets and passing them to a Chinese state-backed firm. UMC had alleged patent infringement by two of Micron's China-based subsidiaries.

Their agreement to withdraw the complaints comes amid broader concerns from the US government about technology theft, particularly in relation to China.

Last year, the United States fined UMC $60 million after the Taiwanese firm pled guilty to stealing Micron designs and sharing them with China's state-backed Fujian Jinhua, which is building a memory chip manufacturing plant.

UMC at the time said management was unaware of unauthorised actions of three employees who had previously worked for Micron.

As part of the guilty plea, the US Department of Justice dismissed other allegations against UMC, including conspiracy to commit economic espionage.

https://fudzilla.com/news/53945-micr...ry-the-hatchet