Taiwanese Prosecutors Indict 14 People In Connection With Technology Theft By Chinese Company

JAKARTA - Taiwan prosecutors on Friday, July 15, accused a Chinese supplier to Apple Inc of stealing commercial secrets from a Taiwanese supplier and hunting down its workforce to win orders from the US company. Prosecutors also said they had charged 14 people.

Taiwan has stepped up efforts to stop what it considers fraudulent and illegal activities by Chinese companies to steal knowledge and rob talent. This is seen by the Taipei government as a threat to the island nation's technological prowess.

Prosecutors in New Taipei said after a year and a half of investigation, they found that China's Luxshare Precision Industry Co Ltd had targeted its Taiwanese competitor, Catcher Technology Co Ltd, "to quickly enter Apple's production chain to win orders".

Luxshare "lured" the China-based Catcher research and development team with promises of high salaries and stole business secrets from the Taiwanese company, causing them heavy losses, prosecutors said in a statement.

"Luxshare did this in order to quickly build factories and mass-produce cases for iPhone, iPad and other products," the statement said.

Luxshare itself did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Apple, on this report.

"New Taipei prosecutors have now indicted 14 people in connection with breach of trust and taking commercial secrets for use overseas," they added.

"The department will do its best to investigate such cases in order to maintain the good development of our state enterprises and ensure the competitiveness of the national industry," the prosecutor said.

Catcher, which makes iPhone and iPad cases, said in a statement that it continues to implement and optimize trade secret and intellectual property protections. They also said they would investigate anything that violated their rights and interests.

"The company is cooperating with the investigation," added a source at Catcher.

In May, Taiwanese authorities raided 10 Luxshare companies or R&D centers operating in Taiwan without approval on suspicion of illegal hunting of chip engineers and other technology talents.