Beijing E-Town Semiconductor Technologies (E-Town), a leading Chinese semiconductor equipment maker, has filed a lawsuit against U.S. chip equipment giant Applied Materials, seeking 99.99 million yuan ($13.94 million) in damages over alleged misappropriation of trade secrets.

In a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Wednesday, E-Town accused Applied Materials of illegally obtaining and using its proprietary technology related to plasma sources and wafer surface treatment—core processes used in E-Town's dry photoresist removal, etching, and wafer modification equipment. The company claims the U.S. firm disclosed these secrets by filing a patent in China and taking ownership of the application rights.

E-Town said the case stems from Applied Materials' hiring of two former employees from Mattson Technology, a wholly owned E-Town subsidiary acquired in 2016. Both had signed confidentiality agreements covering the disputed technology. After joining Applied Materials, the pair were named as lead inventors on a Chinese patent application that E-Town alleges reveals its jointly owned confidential know-how.

The Chinese firm is seeking a court order requiring Applied Materials to stop using or disclosing its technology, destroy all materials containing the disputed trade secrets, and transfer the contested patent rights to E-Town. It is also demanding punitive damages equal to three times the claimed losses, along with legal costs.

E-Town said evidence shows Applied Materials promoted products incorporating the disputed technology to Chinese customers, causing further harm. The Beijing Intellectual Property Court has accepted the case, but no hearing date has been set. Applied Materials has not yet publicly commented on the lawsuit.