TSMC Sues Ex-Executive, Now at Intel. Trade Secrets Are Why.

An image of a semiconductor wafer is shown at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Museum of Innovation in Hsinchu, Taiwan. (An Rong Xu / Bloomberg)

Key Points

• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company filed a lawsuit against former executive Wei-Jen Lo, now at Intel, over concerns he may divulge chip-making secrets.
• Intel has tried to compete with TSMC, which currently dominates the global market for making advanced chips, in the so-called foundry business of producing semiconductors for third parties.
• Intel said the company has “no reason to believe there is any merit to the allegations.”

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is concerned that Intel could gain access to its chip-making secrets.

On Tuesday, TSMC filed a lawsuit in Taiwan’s Intellectual Property and Commercial Court against Wei-Jen Lo, a former executive who now works at Intel , saying there is a high chance he could divulge critical information to his new employer.

Lo couldn’t be reached for comment. “Intel has welcomed back Wei-Jen Lo, who previously spent 18 years at Intel working on the development of Intel’s wafer processing technology before joining TSMC,” an Intel spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Based on everything we know, we have no reason to believe there is any merit to the allegations involving Mr. Lo.”

Intel has tried to compete with TSMC, which currently dominates the global market for making advanced chips, in the so-called foundry business of producing semiconductors for third parties.

Lo joined TSMC in 2004, the company said. The executive was promoted to senior vice president in 2014 and contributed to the foundry’s research and development of advanced technologies. He retired from TSMC on July 27.

TSMC alleges Lo held meetings with staff of the company’s R&D unit to learn about technologies under development after he was transferred to the Corporate Strategy Development department in March 2024. At the time, he wasn’t responsible for supervising those employees, the chip maker said.

TSMC said Lo signed noncompete and nondisclosure agreements.

As Lo has joined Intel after retiring from TSMC: “There is a high probability that Lo uses, leaks, discloses, delivers, or transfers TSMC’s trade secrets and confidential information to Intel, thus making legal actions (including claiming damages for breach of contract) necessary,” TSMC said.

Write to Tae Kim at tae.kim@barrons.com