BEIJING (Reuters) -Beijing E-Town Semiconductor Technologies, a semiconductor equipment firm backed by Beijing's government, on Wednesday said it has sued U.S. chip equipment supplier Applied Materials over alleged trade secrets infringement.

The Chinese company allege Applied Materials Inc. illegally obtained, used and revealed its core technologies related to the application of plasma source in treating the surface of wafers.

Applied Materials, reportedly, was sued by Beijing E-Town Semiconductor Technology in China over alleged trade secret theft.

BEIJING (Reuters) -Beijing E-Town Semiconductor Technologies, a semiconductor equipment firm backed by Beijing's government, on Wednesday said it has sued U.S. chip equipment supplier Applied Materials over alleged trade secrets infringement.

E-Town alleges that two employees at Mattson Technology, a US firm it acquired in 2016, stole core production technology secrets owned by the unit, resigned, and then joined Applied Materials, where they developed products using the technology and promoted them to Chinese customers.

Beijing E-Town Semiconductor Technology filed a lawsuit against chip equipment maker Applied Materials over alleged theft of trade secrets.

TAIPEI] Top US chip-equipment supplier Applied Materials was sued by a rival in China over what that company characterised as trade secret theft, a further escalation in the technology war between the world’s two largest economies.