Samsung's Foldable Screen Tech Has Been Stolen, Sold To China (cnn.com)

Prosecutors in South Korea say that Samsung's latest bendable screen technology has been stolen and sold to two Chinese companies. "The prosecutors allege that a Samsung supplier leaked blueprints of Samsung's 'flexible OLED edge panel 3D lamination' to a company that it had set up," reports CNN. "That company then sold the tech secrets to the Chinese firms for nearly $14 million, according to the prosecutors." CNN reports: The Suwon District Prosecutor's Office charged 11 people on Thursday with stealing tech secrets from Samsung, the office said in a statement. They did not name the people or companies involved in the theft. Samsung Display, a subsidiary of the South Korean conglomerate, said in a statement Friday that it was "surprised and appalled at the results of the investigation by prosecutors."

Prosecutors said Samsung invested six years and some 150 billion won ($130 million) to develop the bendable screen. Investigators have not been able to track down and question two Chinese individuals believed to be involved in the case, and have asked Interpol to help find and detain them. Of the 11 people indicted, three have been detained.

Comments

Enough with the derping about US history

[MikeRT]

China is not a "developing country" anymore. It hasn't been for about 15-20 years, if not longer. It is to us what the US was to Europe in the 1930s, and by then the federal government would have prosecuted the shit out of such an act, but not a damn thing will be done to any Chinese that escaped the South Korean government unless one of the parties brings a big hammer out against China.

Re:Enough with the derping about US history

[mykepredko]

While I agree that China does not fit the model/ideation of a "developing country" it is not a "developed country".

While there are many high tech cities and regions, there are huge areas (with large populations) of the country that are still quite primitive in need of infrastructure, education and industry. Along with that, the regions that have become modernized still have some very simplistic ideas towards intellectual property rights as well as what we would consider moral (or at least, contract abiding) behaviour. This is exemplified in this situation where the perpetrators of this crime not only found customers for what they've stolen but they've also able to escape custody (at least so far).

I think it will be another generation (25 years) before China and her companies can be considered to be fully reliable partners.

None of this happened.

[theCat]

The thieves did not sell the stolen tech to a Chinese company, they gave it to the Chinese government. This is a good way to advance yourself in China. As such, there is zero possibility of getting the Chi-Comms to cooperate in an investigation. Samsung can write the entire thing off along with 1,000 other inventions the Chi-Comms lifted over the last few years.

Re:I'm torn

[MobyDisk]

none of which bears any similarity to property.

There's plenty of similarity. Just like physical property, patents, trademarks, and copyrights can be bought and sold. Each grants the owner with unique rights. Sounds a lot like property to me. In the United States, property-like rights for patents and copyrights originate in the US constitution, which says "[The Congress shall have power] to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” The courts have consistently ruled for over 100 years that this includes the ability to buy and sell them.

Re:And the "Tech" is so bad that there is no produ

[geek]

Or they will, but instead of offloading the cost of keeping their secrets safe on governments, they’ll learn proper security. This would have the added benefit of protecting end uses of their products.

There is no proper security here. China is offering people at one company 7 times their current salary guaranteed for 3 years if they leave and come work for them with just the IP they have in their heads. You literally can not defend against that as a private company. China has promised to spend hundreds of billions before 2025 to steal the IP of western nations and stand up fabs in country to produce and sell them without the RnD costs.

The only way to deal with this is massive tariffs and trade embargoes. China is the worlds largest copying machine and deserves no respect economically on the world stage.

Re:I'm torn

[Immerman]

Property is singular - what you have, I do not. If I take a piece of property from you, you no longer have it. That is the single defining quality of ownership rights over property.

Intellectual assets do not share that quality. They can be duplicated infinitely at negligible cost, and the original owner loses nothing. The actual legal ownership of a grant of patent or copyright may behave in a similar manner - but that's just a document. The actual copyright itself is an artificial legal restriction imposed on everyone else.