Prosecutors in South Korea have charged 11 people for
illegally selling Samsung’s bendable screen technology to a Chinese rival
company. According to Bloomberg, the CEO of Samsung supplier Toptec, and eight
of his employees had received 15.5 billion won (approx $13.8 million) for
conspiring and transferring information regarding organic light-emitting diode
(OLED) displays. Samsung uses OLED panels in its phones, televisions and
monitors. The two others were from the Chinese company with whom they hatched the
conspiracy.
Bloomberg says that intellectual property theft is a
national concern for South Korea and the country is spending billions for
becoming self-sustaining in areas such as memory chips and displays, two fields
where Samsung is the world leader. On the revelation, Samsung Display said it
was “shocked at the results of the investigation by prosecutors, at a time when
competitors are intensifying their technological rivalry.” Samsung said that it
would keep a close eye on the trial.Citing prosecutors, the report noted that the South Korean
supplier transferred “3D lamination” technology and other equipment to the
Chinese screen maker between May and August, violating a non-disclosure
agreement with Samsung. They were caught while loading additional pieces onto a
ship headed for the mainland. Another report says that Samsung’s display
technology is considered a “national core technology” under South Korean law,
making the offense graver.What’s more, one of the accused was said to be using a fake
company headed by his sister-in-law to cover up the espionage. Reportedly,
Samsung spent about 150 billion won over a period of six years to develop the
OLED technology. Meanwhile, Toptec has issued a statement denying the charges.
“Our company has never provided Samsung Display’s industrial technology or
business secrets to a Chinese client. Our company will fully cooperate with
legal proceedings to find the truth in court,” the company was quoted as
saying.This is not the first time that such an incident has occured
in the technology world. Earlier this year, Anthony Levandowski, a former
Google employee and the engineer behind the company's self-driving car
programme was fired from Uber after he was accussed of stealing autonomous car
technology from Waymo (a subsidiary of Google's parent Alphabet) before joining
Uber. Levandowski reportedly downloaded around 14,000 files from his
company-issued computer containing trade secrets related to Waymo's LIDAR
technology, circuit board designs, and testing documentation.
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