TSMC Wins USD 1 Bln Trade Secret Lawsuit Against SMIC

MyDrivers, 11/06/09

The California State Supreme Court has ruled on the trade secrets lawsuit between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) and Chinese semiconductor foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) (NYSE: SMI, 0981.HK). The court found that SMIC had violated its agreements with TSMC and was using TSMC's trade secrets illegally, and ordered SMIC to pay USD 1 bln in damages. TSMC is still seeking a permanent court injunction against SMIC selling any products in the United States that used the technology cited in this case.

SMIC will appeal the decision. According to industry sources, both sides wish to settle the matter out of court.

In 2000, SMIC employed 180 former TSMC employees, through which it acquired information relating to microchip manufacturing technology.

Keywords: IPR infringement hardware semiconductor SMI SMIC TSMC 0981.HK law litigation

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