Controversies

Micron announces fiscal 2026 bonuses amid Taiwan union labor dispute

Issue disclosure

Micron Technology said on Friday that its employees in Taiwan would receive fiscal 2026 bonuses equaling 35 to 68 months of pay, with minimum cash compensation of T$1.7 million, as the company contends with an ongoing labor union dispute; the Taoyuan union said it had not reached a consensus with Micron and would continue moving toward a strike.

Stated objective. The union is seeking changes to Micron's rewards system that would allocate 15% of operating profit to employee bonuses.

Netlist patent verdict

A U.S. jury awarded Netlist $445 million after finding that certain Micron memory products willfully infringed two patents related to high-performance-computing memory modules. Micron denied infringement and challenged the validity of the asserted patents; one related patent was later invalidated by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

China restricts purchases of Micron products

China’s cybersecurity regulator prohibited major operators of critical information infrastructure from purchasing Micron products, citing significant national-security risks. The action was widely viewed in the context of escalating U.S.-China semiconductor restrictions and technology controls.

YMTC patent litigation

Yangtze Memory Technologies filed a lawsuit alleging that Micron infringed eight patents. The case added another intellectual-property dispute involving major memory manufacturers in China and the United States.

Taiwan court orders UMC to pay NT$20 million fine in Micron trade-secrets case

Ruling

Taiwan's Intellectual Property and Commercial Court ordered UMC to pay NT$20 million following an appeal in a trade-secret case brought by Micron. The article reports an earlier court finding that UMC and three employees used Micron trade secrets. The ruling concerns the appeal in the case, and the reported order requires UMC to pay the stated fine.

Court orders Micron to compensate Netac in patent case

Ruling

In a patent case brought by Netac, Beijing Intellectual Property Court judgments required Micron to pay Netac RMB 3 million in economic damages and RMB 36,000 in reasonable expenses. The report says Jiahe Yimei was also ordered to pay reasonable expenses.

Fujian Jinhua and UMC intellectual-property dispute

Micron sued United Microelectronics Corporation and Fujian Jinhua in the United States, alleging infringement of DRAM patents and misappropriation of intellectual property. The dispute became part of a wider U.S.-China semiconductor conflict, and Fujian Jinhua was later placed on the U.S. Entity List. Fujian Jinhua denied wrongdoing.