TSMC filed lawsuits with the Intellectual Property Court and the Commercial Court against a former vice president in charge of research and development (R&D) who moved to Intel.
According to Taiwanese media on the 26th, TSMC said it filed suit, noting that former Vice President Luo immediately took a role as an executive vice president (EVP) at Intel right after leaving TSMC, and that it judged there was a high possibility of leaks of TSMC trade secrets and confidential information, prompting legal action.
TSMC is reported to have filed a civil lawsuit on allegations that the company and former Vice President Luo violated the employment contract, the noncompete clause within the same industry, and the Trade Secrets Act. TSMC reportedly detected in advance that former Vice President Luo's movements were suspicious and effectively transferred Luo to the corporate strategy development department, which is unrelated to the R&D division, but former Vice President Luo is said to have continuously requested materials from the R&D department.
Earlier, Taiwanese media reported that former Vice President Luo copied and took out confidential documents related to advanced semiconductor technologies, including 2 nanometers (nm; one-billionth of a meter), before resigning. Before joining TSMC in 2004 after working at Intel, former Vice President Luo is said to have siphoned off as many as 80 boxes of confidential materials at TSMC.