South Korean prosecutors claim the suspects conspired with two representatives of an unnamed Chinese company to steal Samsung's '3D Lamination' OLED flexible display technology. The indicted employees allegedly passed off the display tech for $15.5 billion won, The PCMag reports.
South Korea today charged nine people with illegally selling details about Samsung's flexible display technology to China.
Prosecutors in the country indicted the chief executive and eight employees from local supplier Toptec for the trade secret theft, according to Reuters. The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office claims the employees conspired with two representatives of an unnamed Chinese company to steal Samsung's "3D Lamination" OLED flexible display technology.
The indicted employees allegedly established a shell company to pass off the display tech for $15.5 billion won ($13.8 million US). The illegal technology transfer occurred between May and August of this year. However, Korean investigators seized some of the equipment at a Busan port before it was shipped.
Toptec is a producer of factory automation equipment, and according to Korean prosecutors, the supplier had a non-disclosure agreement with Samsung regarding its 3D Lamination technology.
Toptec is denying the trade secret theft accusations. The supplier told Reuters: "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."
Thursday's indictment is the latest suspected trade secret theft tied to China, which has been trying to build up its technology sector to compete with the US and Korea.
According to South Korean prosecutors, Samsung spent six years and $150 billion won ($134 million US) to develop the 3D Lamination tech for its flexible displays, which is used in the company's flagship phones. Although Samsung currently dominates the OLED smartphone display market, any technology leaks to China could allow the country's manufacturers to catch up.
