Late Aug 13, Beijing E-Town Semiconductor sued U.S. semiconductor equipment giant Applied Materials for 99.99 million yuan, with the case accepted by Beijing Intellectual Property Court ((2025) Jing 73 Min Chu No. 908). This marks the first hard-hitting lawsuit by a domestic equipment maker against an overseas giant, targeting "technology hegemony" in the global chip supply chain.
E-Town claims Applied Materials "precisely robbed" its core plasma wafer processing technology via "poaching key employees + patent hijacking." The lawsuit is a "battle to defend technological sovereignty" in China’s semiconductor breakthrough efforts and a direct challenge to industry monopolists.
Applied Materials holds nearly 20% of the global semiconductor equipment market, with thousands of patents in core areas like plasma etching, long dominating high-end market discourse. TSMC and Samsung rely on its equipment, with over $2 billion annual R&D to build patent barriers. The infringement centers on plasma wafer processing—semiconductor manufacturing’s "crown technology"—which E-Town spent over a decade developing to achieve nanoscale precision, directly determining chip yield.
Applied Materials first poached two core engineers from E-Town subsidiary MTI (who held "vital data" and signed confidentiality agreements). After hiring them, it filed patents in their names, "packaging E-Town’s technology as its own innovation," and promoted related equipment to domestic fabs, forming a complete infringement chain.
E-Town’s claims include: destroying infringing materials/products and stopping use/disclosure; returning hijacked patent rights with mandatory transfer within three months; 99.99 million yuan compensation (including 3x punitive damages, a first in domestic semiconductor trade secret cases). It also demands Applied Materials issue confidentiality notices to industry players and sign commitments to cut off infringing technology diffusion.
Applied Materials has not responded. The outcome will profoundly impact global semiconductor competition rules, marking a turning point in China’s chip breakthrough journey.
ICgoodFind: E-Town’s lawsuit against Applied Materials is a significant step for domestic semiconductors to defend technological sovereignty—developments merit close attention.
