U.S. chipmaker Micron Technology and Taiwan-based United Microelectronics (UMC) announced their agreement to withdraw complaints against each other following legal dispute over intellectual property (IP).
UMC will make a onetime payment to Micron. UMC and Micron did not reveal the amount and 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.
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 U.S. Department of Justice dismissed other allegations against UMC, including conspiracy to commit economic espionage.
The United States also indicted Fujian Jinhua for allegedly using the trade secrets in its chip designs. Fujian Jinhua has denied wrongdoing.
In late 2018, the U.S. Department of Commerce added Fujian Jinhua to its so-called entity list, in effect barring U.S. companies doing business with it. The Chinese firm has since halted chip production plans, analysts have said.
