Top US Chip Gearmaker Accuses China Rival of 14-Month Spy Spree

Applied Materials Inc. is suing a Chinese-owned rival over what it says was a 14-month effort to steal some of its most valuable secrets, allegedly including an orchestrated employee-poaching spree and surreptitious transfers of semiconductor equipment designs.

The biggest US supplier of chipmaking equipment accused Mattson, a Fremont, California-based company acquired by Beijing-backed Beijing E-Town Dragon Semiconductor Industry Investment Center in 2016, of hiring away 17 of its most senior engineers over just more than a year.

They included a senior department manager and researchers who collaborated for years and were privy to sensitive information such as chipmaking processes ...