Claiming 99 million yuan! Bitmain sues former employee and company for infringing trade secrets

On April 7, Zhichan Finance learned that Bitmain Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Bitmain) filed a lawsuit for infringement of trade secrets with the Beijing Intellectual Property Court, with Yang Zuoxing and Shenzhen Bit Microelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Bit Micro) and Shenzhen Bit Microelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. Beijing Branch (hereinafter referred to as Bit Micro Beijing) as defendants. The subject amount of the lawsuit is 99 million yuan. It is understood that the Beijing Intellectual Property Court has officially accepted the case.

The civil case acceptance notice of the Beijing Intellectual Property Court reads: Beijing Bitmain Technology Co., Ltd., regarding your lawsuit against Yang Zuoxing, Shenzhen Bit Microelectronics Technology Co., Ltd., and Shenzhen Bit Microelectronics Technology Co., Ltd. Beijing Branch for infringement of technical secrets, after review, it complies with the relevant provisions of the "Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China", and this court has decided to accept the case.

It is understood that Yang Zuoxing was an employee of Bitmain and had been fully involved in the development of the new generation of chips since early 2015. In May 2016, the chip development was completed. Three months later, Yang Zuoxing left his post without going through any resignation procedures or handover materials. In July 2016 (before leaving his post), Yang Zuoxing had founded Shenzhen BitMicro Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., and within less than five months after its establishment, BitMicro completed the chip design and officially taped out. In April 2017, BitMicro's Shenma M3 mining machine began mass production and listing. BitMicro completed a series of complex processes from company establishment, chip design, tape-out, to mass production of mining machines in such a short period of time, which obviously did not conform to the normal product development cycle, and the Shenma mining machine products produced by BitMicro at the time were very similar to Bitmain's products.

In 2019, Bitmain requested the public security organs to take criminal measures against Yang Zuoxing and other entities on the grounds that Yang Zuoxing and BitMicro had infringed on trade secrets. It is understood that the purpose of Bitmain's lawsuit for infringement of technical secrets is to require Yang Zuoxing and BitMicro to compensate for the economic losses caused by their infringement and to stop infringing on trade secrets.

The reporter learned from Bitmain's official website that Bitmain is a multinational semiconductor company with advanced integrated circuit design capabilities, providing products for blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Since its establishment in 2013, Bitmain has been committed to the research and development of computing chips, and its products have been widely used in the blockchain field. Since 2015, Bitmain has maintained the first place in the global market share. Currently, Bitmain is one of the few design companies in the world that is mass-producing 5nm chips.

According to Qichacha, MicroBit was established on July 18, 2016. It is a technology company based on blockchain and artificial intelligence, focusing on the research and development, production and sales of integrated circuit chips and products, and providing corresponding system solutions and technical services. MicroBit's core technologies cover algorithms, fine optimization of integrated circuit microstructures, low-power technology, advanced chip packaging technology, system-level power supply and heat dissipation technology, etc.

In the new pattern of intellectual property protection, the importance of trade secret protection is increasingly prominent. In September 2020, the Supreme People's Court issued the "Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Cases of Infringement of Trade Secrets". This is the first time that my country has issued a judicial interpretation on trade secrets alone, opening a new chapter in the protection of trade secrets for domestic enterprises, and effectively solving the many problems faced by enterprises due to the leakage of trade secrets, such as being constrained and at a loss, which in turn leads to the suppression of innovation and development vitality. Actively protecting corporate trade secrets and eliminating worries for enterprises will play an important role in helping enterprises actively plan to expand overseas and transform the development momentum dominated by the knowledge economy.

Previously, on February 26, the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People's Court pronounced a verdict on the appeal case of infringement of technical secrets between Jiaxing Zhonghua Chemical Co., Ltd. and Wanglong Group Co., Ltd., and ordered the accused infringer Wanglong Group Co., Ltd. to compensate the technical secret right holder with 159 million yuan. This case is the highest amount of compensation for infringement of commercial secrets in the history of the People's Court. The verdict fully demonstrates the clear judicial attitude of the Supreme People's Court to strictly protect intellectual property rights in accordance with the law and severely crack down on malicious infringement of intellectual property rights in accordance with the law, making the infringer pay a heavy price.