Lawsuit in Court in Taiwan TSMC Accuses Ex-Manager of Revealing Intel Trade Secrets

TSMC has filed a lawsuit against former Senior Vice President Wei-Jen Lo. Allegations include breaches of confidentiality and competition regulations following his move to Intel. Intel denies this accusation.

TSMC has filed a lawsuit against its former Senior Vice President Wei-Jen Lo at the Taiwanese Intellectual Property and Commercial Court. The company suspects that Lo did not fully comply with his contractual obligations after leaving.

Violation of Termination Requirements And Disclosure of Manufacturing Details

At the center of the allegations is the claim that Lo violated an agreed non-compete restriction when moving to Intel. During his exit interview, he is said to have stated his intention to pursue an academic career. He allegedly did not disclose his actual plans to switch.

TSMC also justifies the lawsuit with the suspicion of possible disclosure of sensitive process information. According to several Taiwanese media outlets, Lo is said to have requested extensive briefings from development, production, and financial departments in the months leading up to his retirement. Internal sources report that materials on 2-nm, A16, and A14 technologies were also compiled in the process.

Whether TSMC can provide concrete evidence of the leakage of sub-2-nm technologies is not clear from current media reports. However, the company emphasizes that Lo had already been transferred to a strategy unit without direct access to research and development decisions in the spring of 2024. Nevertheless, he continued to request content from technical areas. In retrospect, this now raises questions about his motives.

Intel Denies Allegations

Intel has already been informed about the lawsuit. The American chip manufacturer rejects the allegations. CEO Lip-Bu Tan described them as pure speculation. He pointed out that Intel has strict internal controls in place that exclude the use of external information from the outset. The company also emphasizes that personnel changes within the industry are common and unproblematic.

Since the case is complex, Intel is taking additional time for a final and more comprehensive statement. Industry circles are discussing whether Intel might temporarily remove Lo from some responsibilities.

Weaknesses in TSMC's Internal Controls?

Taiwan's authorities have independently launched preliminary investigations. The Intellectual Property Branch of the Prosecutor’s Office aims to determine whether criminal offenses are involved or if the matter should be dealt with exclusively under civil law. Possible evidence is made more difficult by the fact that some of the requested documents were regular internal reports that are usually accessible to employees. If Lo claims not to have taken any materials or to have destroyed everything, TSMC could face legal hurdles.

Industry experts from Trendforce point out that the case bears certain similarities to a previous 2-nm leak in which engineers were already charged: According to the economic newspaper Economic Daily News, Taiwanese prosecutors charged three TSMC engineers on August 27 with stealing national core technology secrets and are seeking prison sentences of 7 to 14 years under national security and trade secret protection laws. The case is particularly sensitive—not only because it involves TSMC's cutting-edge 2-nm technology, but also because one of the former employees has since joined Tokyo Electron, a key equipment supplier to TSMC with connections to Rapidus, Japan's state-backed 2-nm challenger.

However, since there is currently no evidence of the leakage of protected core technologies in the Lo case, this changes the nature of the proceedings. At the same time, the situation appears even more sensitive as it involves not a developer but a former senior executive.

At the same time, according to Trendforce, the case highlights limitations in TSMC's internal protection system. In particular, for executives with long-term responsibilities, control over information access appears to need improvement. The company plans to further investigate this issue internally.

For the industry, it is now crucial whether the investigations yield concrete results and whether the allegations are substantiated. Until then, both TSMC and Intel emphasize that the proceedings will not impact ongoing projects and that they will closely monitor further developments. (sg)

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