Prosecutors in Taiwan reportedly searched the home of a former TSMC vice president in charge of research and development (R&D) who moved to Intel, on suspicion of leaking secrets.
According to AFP and others on the 30th, TSMC filed a lawsuit, determining that former senior vice president Wei-Chien Lo, who resigned in July and rejoined U.S. Intel, leaked the company's trade secrets to a competitor. Prosecutors are also investigating under the National Security Act.
The Intellectual Property Division of the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office said on the 27th (local time) that it searched Lo's homes in Taipei and Hsinchu County and secured related evidence including computers and USB drives. The court also approved the seizure of Lo's stocks and real estate, and prosecutors said they would "protect the trade secrets of national core technologies to safeguard industrial competitiveness."
Lo worked at TSMC for nearly 30 years in the R&D organization and returned to Intel, where Lo had worked in the past, after leaving. Intel denied the claim that Lo shared TSMC's trade secrets.