Litigation Member Joshua Drew and International Counsel Collmann Griffin were quoted on Cadence Design System's parallel resolution with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) for unlawfully exporting semiconductor design tools to a restricted military university in China. The action "stands as a strong indicator that the administration, as it has said it would, is prioritizing criminal enforcement of national security-related offenses," Drew said. He also noted that the DOJ "took an aggressive approach, requiring a parent-level guilty plea for an indirectly owned foreign subsidiary, under an agency theory of liability." 

BIS also took an aggressive approach by "imposing an administrative penalty that appears to be close to the statutory maximum of twice the value of the hardware, software and technology sold in violation of the EAR," Griffin said. "Notably, BIS' enforcement action focused on Electronic Design Automation (EDA) hardware and software, as well as semiconductor design technology, that is not strictly controlled (i.e., 900 series and EAR99 items) and can be exported to most destinations in the world, including China, without a license."