Micron balks at court order to share 73 pages of sensitive data with China's banned YMTC chipmaker — Micron strives to protect IP from Chinese chip firm on the entity list

The legal battle between Micron and YMTC has taken a new turn: The US chip giant wants to overturn earlier agreements and court rulings, citing national security concerns.

Under those prior rulings, YMTC gained access to 73 pages of Micron's confidential 3D NAND technology documentation, but now Micron wants to reverse that and leave YMTC without such access. While Micron's petition may seem unusual in the digital age, as observed by PatentlyO, there might be a reason behind the move.

Micron has petitioned the Supreme Court for 'a writ of mandamus,' challenging lower court rulings that allowed Yangtze Memory Technologies Company (YMTC) to receive 73 pages of printed copies of Micron's confidential documents during discovery as part of the 2023 litigation under which YMTC accused Micron of patent infringement.

Micron argues that the district court ignored key provisions of the protective order and therefore failed to consider national security concerns associated with disclosing sensitive semiconductor information to a Chinese state-supported company that is on the U.S. Department of Commerce's Entity List.

Micron's argument began with the nature of the dispute. In the 2023 case, YMTC alleged that Micron's 3D NAND memory products infringed several of its patents. Discovery proceeded under a jointly agreed-upon protective order that limited access to highly sensitive materials, such as source code, to outside counsel and experts, excluding company employees. It also restricted printed copies to 1,500 pages overall and no more than 30 consecutive pages.

"YMTC demanded 10 times more printed pages of source code for Micron's latest-generation chips than it had for earlier-generation chips," a statement by Micron reads.

Eventually, YMTC requested 73 printed pages from Micron's '150 Series Traveler Presentation,' containing information about Micron's latest and upcoming 3D NAND devices. Although numerically compliant with the protective order's page limits, Micron objected, claiming that the request was excessive, unnecessary, and dangerous given the nature of the information and YMTC's links to the Chinese government.

Nonetheless, the court ruled that Yangtze Memory could get access to the printed 73 pages. Now, while an avid reader of Tom's Hardware is probably fluent with copying via a wide range of means, gaining hardware copies under a protective court order does not mean that one can make copies, at least legally. These are for eyes only — if everyone follows the rules. 

Under the protective order, only authorized individuals, in this case, YMTC's outside counsel and experts, can handle the originals. Also, no duplication of printed copies is allowed, no scanning, no photocopying, and no electronic reproduction; this is strictly prohibited.

In addition, every page is Bates-numbered and tracked; any duplication would be a violation of the protective order and subject to court sanctions, including penalties, adverse rulings, or contempt of court. If YMTC or its legal team were to make unauthorized copies, they would be in serious legal trouble, and there is no evidence they have. Nonetheless, Micron wants this decision to be reversed. 

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