TSMC Files Complaints Against GlobalFoundries in U.S., Germany and Singapore for Infringement of 25 Patents to Affirm its Technology Leadership and to Protect Its Customers and Consumers Worldwide

Hsin­chu, Tai­wan R.O.C., Oct 1, 2019 — TSMC, the world’s lea­ding glo­bal inno­va­tor in semi­con­duc­tor manu­fac­tu­ring, filed mul­ti­ple lawsuits on Sep­tem­ber 30, 2019 against Glo­bal­Found­ries in the United Sta­tes, Ger­ma­ny and Sin­ga­po­re for its ongo­ing inf­rin­ge­ment of 25 TSMC patents by at least its 40nm, 28nm, 22nm, 14nm, and 12nm node pro­ces­ses. In the com­plaints, TSMC demands injunc­tions to stop Glo­bal­Found­ries’ manu­fac­tu­re and sale of inf­rin­ging semi­con­duc­tor pro­ducts. TSMC also seeks sub­stan­ti­al mone­ta­ry dama­ges from Glo­bal­Found­ries for its sale of inf­rin­ging semi­con­duc­tor pro­ducts and unlawful use of TSMC’s paten­ted semi­con­duc­tor technologies.

The 25 TSMC patents in the com­plaints rela­te to a diver­se set of tech­no­lo­gies, inclu­ding Fin­FET designs, shal­low trench iso­la­ti­on tech­ni­ques, dou­ble pat­ter­ning methods, advan­ced seal rings and gate struc­tures, and inno­va­ti­ve cont­act etch stop lay­er designs. The­se spe­ci­fic tech­no­lo­gies cover the core fea­tures of matu­re and advan­ced semi­con­duc­tor manu­fac­tu­ring pro­ces­ses. The patents at issue com­pri­se just a small por­ti­on of TSMC’s exten­si­ve port­fo­lio that num­bers more than 37,000 gran­ted patents world­wi­de. TSMC was ran­ked one of the top 10 com­pa­nies for U.S. patent grants last year, for the third con­se­cu­ti­ve year.

TSMC pio­nee­red the dedi­ca­ted semi­con­duc­tor foundry model, enab­ling an enti­re fab­less IC design indus­try worth hundreds of bil­li­ons of dol­lars in the United Sta­tes. Fur­ther­mo­re, TSMC plays a cri­ti­cal role in faci­li­ta­ting the glo­bal semi­con­duc­tor sup­p­ly chain. For exam­p­le, TSMC col­la­bo­ra­tes with dozens of U.S.-based equip­ment sup­pli­ers, intellec­tu­al pro­per­ty (IP) core pro­vi­ders and elec­tro­nic design auto­ma­ti­on (EDA) ven­dors. TSMC pro­cu­red about US$20 bil­li­on in equip­ment and ser­vices from U.S. sup­pli­ers over the past 5 years. TSMC also spurs the next gene­ra­ti­on of semi­con­duc­tor tech­no­lo­gy by working clo­se­ly with U.S.-based cus­to­mers, sup­pli­ers and pres­ti­gious uni­ver­si­ties. TSMC sub­si­dia­ries ope­ra­te a manu­fac­tu­ring site in Washing­ton Sta­te along with offices in Cali­for­nia and Texas with over a thousand employees.

TSMC’s 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,” said Syl­via Fang, Vice Pre­si­dent and Gene­ral Coun­sel for TSMC. “TSMC’s lawsuits seek to pro­tect our repu­ta­ti­on, our signi­fi­cant invest­ments, our near­ly 500 cus­to­mers, and con­su­mers world­wi­de to ensu­re ever­yo­ne bene­fits from the most advan­ced semi­con­duc­tor tech­no­lo­gies that enable a wide ran­ge of appli­ca­ti­ons such as mobi­le, 5G, AI, IoT and high per­for­mance com­pu­ting, which are cri­ti­cal­ly important to the public interest.”

About TSMC
TSMC pio­nee­red the pure-play foundry busi­ness model when it was foun­ded in 1987, and has been
the world’s lar­gest dedi­ca­ted semi­con­duc­tor foundry ever sin­ce. The com­pa­ny sup­ports a thriving
eco­sys­tem of glo­bal cus­to­mers and part­ners with the industry’s lea­ding pro­cess tech­no­lo­gy and
port­fo­lio of design ena­blem­ent solu­ti­ons to unleash inno­va­ti­on for the glo­bal semiconductor
industry.

TSMC ser­ves its cus­to­mers with glo­bal capa­ci­ty of more than 12 mil­li­on 12-inch equi­va­lent wafers
per year in 2019, and pro­vi­des the broa­dest ran­ge of tech­no­lo­gies from 0.5 micron plus all the way
to foundry’s most advan­ced pro­ces­ses, which is 7‑nanometer today. TSMC is the first foundry to
pro­vi­de 7‑nanometer pro­duc­tion capa­bi­li­ties, and is head­quar­te­red in Hsin­chu, Tai­wan. For more
infor­ma­ti­on about TSMC plea­se visit http://www.tsmc.com.