Head of AP Materials Indicted for Alleged Theft of Trade Secrets from J.C. Spim

(CNA, Taipei, May 21) Former J.C. Spim Corp. general manager Chen Chao-jung is suspected of illegally reproducing company trade secrets and leaking them via email to Chen Ya-li, the person in charge of AP Materials, Inc. The Taipei District Prosecutors Office today indicted Chen Chao-jung, Chen Ya-li, and AP Materials for violating the Trade Secrets Act. According to the indictment, Chen Chao-jung was employed at J.C. Spim (parent company: Japan's Central Glass Co., Ltd., hereinafter CG Company) starting December 10, 2015, and served as general manager from June 13, 2019, to August 17, 2022. Chen Ya-li is the head of AP Materials, Inc. Both J.C. Spim and AP Materials are engaged in the sale of specialty etching gases and are competitors. Prosecutors stated that from January 2017 to December 2021, Chen Chao-jung, with the intent of securing illegal benefits for himself and harming the interests of CG Company and J.C. Spim, reproduced and leaked trade secrets of CG Company and J.C. Spim to Chen Ya-li and others. After obtaining the secrets, Chen Ya-li even sent some of the content to an individual with an unknown name and age, identified only by the email name 'Innokenty.' CG Company and J.C. Spim filed a complaint with the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the National Police Agency. The case was transferred to the Taipei District Prosecutors Office, and prosecutors indicted Chen Chao-jung, Chen Ya-li, and AP Materials today for violating the Trade Secrets Act.