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1 October 2019PatentsRory O'Neill

TSMC counter-sues GlobalFoundries after ITC investigation

The world’s biggest semiconductor foundry, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), has counter-sued its US rival GlobalFoundries, which in August accused TSMC of infringing 16 patents.

The announcement from TSMC marks a major escalation in a continuing patent dispute between two of the world’s largest makers of semiconductors for the consumer electronics and telecoms industries.

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) announced last Friday, September 27, it had begun an investigation into TSMC, off the back of a complaint from the US company.

In the latest complaints, filed in the US, Germany, and Singapore, TSMC asserted 25 of its own patents against GlobalFoundries.

TSMC is seeking injunctions preventing the sale of GlobalFoundries products which infringe the Taiwanese company’s patents, it said in a statement.

The 25 patents relate to different technologies which constitute the core process of semiconductor manufacturing, TSMC said.

Sylvia Fang, vice president and general counsel for TSMC said the patents “reflect decades and tens of billions of dollars of investments in innovation, resulting in TSMC’s significant contribution to advancements in semiconductor manufacturing technology”.

In GlobalFoundries’ suit, the US company accused TSMC of infringement contributing to billions of dollars in sales for the Taiwanese company.

GlobalFoundries also took aim at prominent TSMC customers, including Apple, nVidia, Lenovo, and Google, seeking an injunction preventing the sale of products infringing its patents.

Following its complaints, filed at the ITC as well as US district courts, the ITC announced that it was investigating TSMC, Apple, nVidia and Lenovo over the import of certain semiconductor devices.

At the time, TSMC dismissed GlobalFoundries’ allegations of patent infringement as “baseless”.

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Patents
29 October 2019   GlobalFoundries and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company have agreed to dismiss all patent suits between themselves, as well as those that involve any of their customers.