Micron Sues YMTC in Idaho, Alleges Chinese Rival Poached Engineers to Build 3D NAND Patent Portfolio

Micron filed a Defend Trade Secrets Act case against YMTC in the US District Court for Idaho, alleging the Chinese memory maker systematically poached its 3D NAND engineers, extracted its know-how, then patented variants of that technology and used the resulting portfolio to sue Micron across jurisdictions including a recent Munich injunction. Court filings claim former employees hid their YMTC roles on LinkedIn and that confidentiality obligations survived their resignations. The suit opens a new US front in a three-year patent fight that has already spawned 20+ patents on both sides.