Nine people accused of having sold Samsung's curved display technology

The group reportedly formed a shell company that allegedly received documents related to the display screens of Samsung's subsidiary Samsung Display and sold them with "3D-laminating" technology to the unidentified Chinese company. Toptec sells automated equipment to manufacture billboards for telephones and the company has denied any wrongdoing, according to Reuters.

Prosecutors say that it took six years, 38 engineers and 150 billion won ($ 134 million at current exchange rates) to Samsung to develop the disclosed intellectual property, which South Korea sees as a technology national base. Samsung Display said Bloomberg in a statement, he was "shocked by the results of the prosecutors' investigation, at a time when competitors are intensifying their technological rivalry". The company, meanwhile, has recently offered a preview of its upcoming folding OLED screens.

Trade secrets are highly sought after, companies seeking to stand out from their rivals, but getting such information can prove to be expensive. The Match Group parent company of Bumble and Tinder is being pursued this year for intellectual property abuse. Uber, who was accused of stealing trade secrets, settled at the time with Waymo, a company owned by Alphabet, for a capital of about $ 245 million – although it was not worth it. Uber remains willing to use Waymo's autonomous cars in its network.