TAIPEI ¨C Intel on Thursday denied allegations by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) that one of its executives, Wei-Jen Lo, who formerly worked at the Taiwanese chipmaker, had leaked trade secrets.
¡°Based on everything we know, we have no reason to believe there is any merit to the allegations involving Mr Lo,¡± Intel said in an emailed statement.
Lo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Intel said the company maintains rigorous policies and controls that strictly prohibit the use or transfer of any third-party confidential information or intellectual property.
¡°We take these commitments seriously,¡± Intel said.
The U.S. chipmaker said it has welcomed back Lo and that he is widely respected across the semiconductor industry for his integrity, leadership and technical expertise. ¡°Talent movement across companies is a common and healthy part of our industry, and this situation is no different,¡± the company added.
TSMC said on Tuesday it had filed a lawsuit in Taiwan¡¯s Intellectual Property and Commercial Court against Lo, its former senior vice president.
Lo, who helped drive TSMC¡¯s mass production of cutting-edge 5-nanometer, 3-nm and 2-nm chips, joined Intel in October after retiring from TSMC following a 21-year-long career there.
Before joining TSMC in 2004, Lo worked at Intel for 18 years.
TSMC had said in a statement that ¡°there is a high probability that Lo uses, leaks, discloses or transfers TSMC¡¯s trade secrets and confidential information to Intel, thus making legal actions necessary.¡±
Taiwan¡¯s economy ministry said this week that it will cooperate to determine whether the case involves the infringement of core technologies or violations of Taiwan¡¯s National Security Act.
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