【Text/Observer Network Lv Dong】
On February 9, local time, Dutch lithography giant ASML announced in its 2021 financial report that Chinese company Dong Fang JingYuan Electron (DFJY) is actively selling products in China that may (could potentially) infringe Onmai's intellectual property rights. Asma's alleged Oriental Crystal Source affiliate XTAL was found by a U.S. court in 2019 to have infringed Asma's intellectual property rights.
Observer Network then contacted Dongfang Jingyuan, and the other staff said that it was temporarily inconvenient to respond to the matter. Asma China told the Observer Network that the matter was related to XTAL's previous infringement case and was a normal disclosure in the annual report. Asma is closely monitoring the dynamics of Oriental Crystal Source and is not yet prepared to take legal measures, but if there is conclusive evidence, the company will resort to justice.
Asmail R&D Personnel Source: Asma
Chinese companies say that key technologies are completely self-developed
According to the information disclosed in Asma's earnings report, the company learned in early 2021 that a company related to XTAL was actively promoting products in China that may infringe Onme's intellectual property rights, and in 2019 XTAL was awarded compensation for stealing Asma's trade secrets in the United States. In response, Asma has told customers not to assist the Chinese company, Oriental Crystal, in such potential infringements. Asma also revealed that the company has informed the Chinese regulator of the relevant information, is closely monitoring the situation, and is ready to take legal action at the appropriate time.
Screenshot of Asma's 2021 earnings report
The observer network query found that the full name of Oriental Jingyuan Microelectronics Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., founded in 2014, is headquartered in Beijing Yizhuang Economic and Technological Development Zone, focusing on integrated circuit yield management. Yizhuang SDIC has disclosed that Oriental Jingyuan is invested and controlled by China's top 500 enterprises, Oriental Group, which is a large-scale investment holding private enterprise established in 1978.
From the perspective of specific business, the main products of Dongfang Jingyuan are nanoscale electron beam defect detection equipment (EBI) and key dimension measurement equipment (CD-SEM), computational lithography products (OPC) and microelectronics design and manufacturing intelligent yield optimization platform (HPOTM). The company said that its products are independently developed and at the leading level in China, which can effectively solve many difficulties in the domestic integrated circuit industry.
Screenshot of the official website of Oriental Jingyuan
According to asma's official website, in addition to lithography machines, the company's products also include computational lithography for improving chip yield and quality, "Without computational lithography, chip manufacturers cannot manufacture the latest technology nodes."
A senior semiconductor industry person told the Observer Network that in the process of lithography, the diffraction of light and the physical and chemical effects in the photosensitive layer will deform the image that the lithography machine tries to engrave, so it is necessary to calculate lithography for calibration and optimization. In simple terms, computational lithography is similar to the algorithm in EDA, which is a service that fabs need to purchase, and if the exposure pattern is different from the actual mask, the mask can be corrected in advance by calculating the lithography to ensure that the desired graphic is obtained. Generally speaking, if the fab feels that Asma's computational lithography is not good enough, it can also choose a product provided by a third party, and the two will form a competition.
Screenshot of Asma's official website
The Dutch media unreasonably attacked China, which was opposed by Asma
In addition to accusing Oriental Jingyuan of possible infringement, Asma also specifically mentioned that Oriental Jingyuan is related to XTAL, and the intellectual property dispute between Asma and XTAL occurred several years ago, which also triggered some unreasonable attacks on China by foreign media.
It all started in 2016. In May of that year, Asmail sued U.S. company XTAL in a U.S. court, accusing XTAL of stealing certain source code and intellectual property rights from Asmail's U.S. subsidiary, Brion, and alleging that XTAL induced and instigated Asmail employees to work secretly for him before leaving.
According to the official presentation, Brion was the originator of the concept of computational lithography, which was acquired by Asma in 2007. XTAL was founded in 2014 by two former Brion employees to improve yields in semiconductor manufacturing, including computational lithography. According to foreign media reports at the time, XTAL grew rapidly after its establishment, and Asma began to become suspicious of XTAL after losing a contract with a key customer.
Brion related introduction
Asmail's allegations to the court alleging that two Asma employees resigned to join the company 1 year after XTAL was founded, that the two employees copied Brion's trade secrets to storage devices and took them away to promote XTAL's business, and that they subsequently stole classified information with two former colleagues who were still working for Brion.
Originally, it was normal for commercial disputes between enterprises to occur, but there were always some foreign media who wanted to take the opportunity to elevate the matter to the national level.
During the trial of the case, the Dutch media "Financieele Dagblad" reported that the six employees involved in XTAL were all Chinese names, and XTAL was a subsidiary of the Chinese company Oriental Jingyuan. As a result, the media claimed that the infringement case was related to the Chinese government, and that Asma's technology could fall into The Hands of China, a so-called "state espionage activity."
As soon as this statement came out, Asma was the first to oppose it. In April 2019, the company issued an official statement saying that XTAL and its former employees were aiming to enrich themselves with stolen trade secrets and intellectual property, and Asmai found no evidence of direct Chinese government involvement in the matter. "We are unhappy with any claim that this case will affect Asma's business in China. Some of them happen to be Chinese citizens, but people from other countries are also involved. ”
Lu Kang, then spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, pointed out that China and the Netherlands have always maintained good cooperation in the field of science and technology. We have reiterated many times that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the protection of intellectual property rights. We have always required overseas Chinese citizens and enterprises to abide by the laws of their host countries. As for China itself, China's scientific and technological development does not rely on stealing or robbing, but Chinese uses its own wisdom and sweat and hard work.
Asma's CEO Peter Win said in a statement that the company was encouraged by China's commitment to respecting and protecting the intellectual property rights of non-Chinese companies.
However, Asma did not mention the specific relationship between XTAL and Oriental Crystal Source at that time. But the company disclosed that the money behind XTAL came from China and South Korea, and its goal was to create a competitive product to sell to Asma's customers in South Korea. Asma also revealed that XTAL steals software for mask optimization, which is separate from Asma's main business and accounts for less than 1% of the company's annual revenue. "Therefore, the media's claim that Asma's core technology is affected is not true."
Seeing that the smear of China was dismantled by Asma, some Dutch and American media targeted South Korea, saying that Samsung was suspected of stealing trade secrets. Subsequently, Samsung issued a statement denying the allegations, and Asma also supported Samsung, saying that the main responsibility for the theft of intellectual property rights lay with some former employees. Asmail also reiterated his disappointment at the continued speculation in the Dutch media about allegedly a conspiracy led by the Chinese government.
In November 2018, a court in California ruled that XTAL's theft of intellectual property was in bad faith, and Asma was convicted of all five counts of XTAL and could be awarded punitive damages under the law. The five offenses include stealing trade secrets, inducing former ASML employees to violate contracts, assisting and abetting former employees to violate their fiduciary obligations to Asma, and repeated violations of California's Computer Data Access and Fraud Act.
But a month later, XTAL filed for bankruptcy and tried to sell the intellectual property, and the court had to delay the judgment. It was not until the bankruptcy court's proceedings were completed that the Santa Clara Superior Court issued a final ruling in May 2019, awarding XTAL $845 million in damages to Asma. But because XTAL was bankrupt, Asma was unable to receive damages and simply took over most of XTAL's intellectual property under the settlement, which XTAL was barred from continuing with the same business as Brion for a period of time. At the time, Asma said the court awarded damages not on the actual damages suffered by the company, but on the research and development costs saved by XTAL through the theft of intellectual property and trade secrets.
In the XTAL infringement case, Asma was never mentioned. But Asma China told the Observer Network on Feb. 10 that "the relationship between them is public information."
According to Asma's financial report, the company's revenue in 2021 was 18.6 billion euros (about 133.9 billion yuan), an increase of 33% year-on-year; net profit was 5.9 billion euros (about 42.5 billion yuan), an increase of 66% year-on-year; gross profit margin was 53%, an increase of 4 percentage points over the same period last year. In 2021, the company shipped a total of 309 lithography machines, 51 more than in 2020; of which 42 were extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, 11 more than last year.
Asmail Lithography Machine Shipping Information
As of press time, Oriental Crystal Source has not responded to Asma's claim.
In August 2021, Dongfang Jingyuan had released a news on its official website that the company, as a pioneer enterprise in the field of yield management in the field of integrated circuits in China, successfully won the title of the third batch of national-level specialized new "Little Giant" enterprises, and its three core products filled the gap in related fields in China, and made rapid progress in industrialization, which is currently the only product in China to verify and realize orders, which is of strategic significance to the security of the semiconductor equipment supply chain in the mainland. The company also mentioned that Since its establishment, Oriental Crystal has insisted on leading development with innovation, declaring 145 invention patents at home and abroad, 49 authorized invention patents, 14 software copyrights, and 15 registered trademarks.
In September 2021, Oriental Jingyuan disclosed that the company completed a new round of equity financing of hundreds of millions of yuan, which was led by Sailing Capital and Shenzhen Venture Capital, and jointly invested by many well-known investment institutions. "This round of financing will help Dongfang Jingyuan accelerate the research and development process of core products such as electron beam detection and computational lithography system in the front of the integrated circuit, and accelerate the overall layout in the field of integrated circuit yield management."
Source: Oriental Jingyuan official website