Micron has filed a lawsuit against Chinese memory maker YMTC, accusing it of systematically acquiring Micron's 3D NAND trade secrets by hiring former Micron engineers. According to the complaint, those engineers joined YMTC shortly after leaving Micron, sometimes citing personal or family reasons and not updating their LinkedIn profiles, and then became inventors on YMTC patents covering technologies similar to what they worked on at Micron.
The suit says YMTC used those patents to attack Micron in court, including a patent infringement case YMTC filed in California in November 2023. Micron alleges that some of the patents cover inventions conceived while the engineers were still at Micron, and it is asking courts to transfer ownership of those patents from YMTC to Micron.
Patent records independently confirm that several former Micron engineers later appeared as inventors on YMTC patents that YMTC used against Micron. However, as the source notes, that alone does not prove misappropriation, since engineers often change employers and continue inventing in their fields. The case will hinge on whether Micron can show the patents cover work done during their employment at Micron.