Tuesday, August 27th 2019
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Globalfoundries Files Patent-infringement Lawsuits Against TSMC in the U.S. and Germany
GLOBALFOUNDRIES (GF), the world's leading specialty foundry based in the United States, today filed multiple lawsuits in the U.S. and Germany alleging that semiconductor manufacturing technologies used by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (TSMC) infringe 16 GF patents. The lawsuits were filed today in the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), the U.S. Federal District Courts in the Districts of Delaware and the Western District of Texas, and the Regional Courts of Dusseldorf and Mannheim in Germany.
In filing the lawsuits, GF seeks orders that will prevent semiconductors produced with the infringing technology by Taiwan-based TSMC, the dominant semiconductor manufacturer, from being imported into the U.S. and Germany. These lawsuits require GF to name certain major customers of TSMC and downstream electronics companies, who, in most cases, are the actual importers of the products that incorporate the infringing TSMC technology. GF also seeks significant damages from TSMC based on TSMC's unlawful use of GF's proprietary technology in its tens of billions of dollars of sales.
"While semiconductor manufacturing has continued to shift to Asia, GF has bucked the trend by investing heavily in the American and European semiconductor industries, spending more than $15 billion dollars in the last decade in the U.S. and more than $6 billion in Europe's largest semiconductor manufacturing fabrication facility. These lawsuits are aimed at protecting those investments and the US and European-based innovation that powers them," said Gregg Bartlett, senior vice president, engineering and technology at GF. "For years, while we have been devoting billions of dollars to domestic research and development, TSMC has been unlawfully reaping the benefits of our investments. This action is critical to halt Taiwan Semiconductor's unlawful use of our vital assets and to safeguard the American and European manufacturing base."
GF is filing these lawsuits to protect its investments, assets and intellectual property, which will help to ensure that semiconductor manufacturing remains a competitive industry for the benefit of its clients.
The fact-sheet of these lawsuits can be accessed here (PDF).
In filing the lawsuits, GF seeks orders that will prevent semiconductors produced with the infringing technology by Taiwan-based TSMC, the dominant semiconductor manufacturer, from being imported into the U.S. and Germany. These lawsuits require GF to name certain major customers of TSMC and downstream electronics companies, who, in most cases, are the actual importers of the products that incorporate the infringing TSMC technology. GF also seeks significant damages from TSMC based on TSMC's unlawful use of GF's proprietary technology in its tens of billions of dollars of sales.
"While semiconductor manufacturing has continued to shift to Asia, GF has bucked the trend by investing heavily in the American and European semiconductor industries, spending more than $15 billion dollars in the last decade in the U.S. and more than $6 billion in Europe's largest semiconductor manufacturing fabrication facility. These lawsuits are aimed at protecting those investments and the US and European-based innovation that powers them," said Gregg Bartlett, senior vice president, engineering and technology at GF. "For years, while we have been devoting billions of dollars to domestic research and development, TSMC has been unlawfully reaping the benefits of our investments. This action is critical to halt Taiwan Semiconductor's unlawful use of our vital assets and to safeguard the American and European manufacturing base."
GF is filing these lawsuits to protect its investments, assets and intellectual property, which will help to ensure that semiconductor manufacturing remains a competitive industry for the benefit of its clients.
The fact-sheet of these lawsuits can be accessed here (PDF).
23 Comments on Globalfoundries Files Patent-infringement Lawsuits Against TSMC in the U.S. and Germany
TSMC (core die)
Global Foundries (I/O die)
Yeah nice. What are they thinking.
I bet they are hoping TSMC will settle the case.
I find it funny that they gave up their "promising" 7nm tech because they assume not enough demand and sue TSMC that actually brings products to the market.
If their 7nm was indeed as good as they throught, they wouldn't be lacking business :roll:
From 2017/2018;
1st/2nd -- US/EU -> Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has been accused of imposing abusive contractual terms for the supply of semiconductors, it is understood. The European Commission and the Federal Trade Commission have contacted semiconductor customers to explore the allegations.
^-- GlobalFoundries is the accuser.
3rd -- China -> GlobalFoundries, the second-largest contract chipmaker in the world, has asked Chinese regulators to probe market leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. for violating antitrust laws, said two industry sources familiar with the matter.
www.eenewseurope.com/news/report-globalfoundries-accuses-tsmc-unfair-selling
TSMC stole our customers! Then, TSMC is stealing our IP!
Delaware: www.ipwatchdog.com/2018/06/13/patent-litigation-shows-shift-towards-delaware/id=98060/
Texas: www.ipwatchdog.com/2019/02/18/newest-patent-rocket-docket-waco-texas/id=106453/
And more info on the why: arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/10/patent-cases-in-east-texas-plunge-more-than-60-percent/
Globalfoundries stopped their 7nm node. But was it a EUV node or not?
I am quite sure they are working on the next node already.
I stand corrected. They changed their strategy to go with 14nm / 12nm and switch to things like stacking.
www.anandtech.com/show/13277/globalfoundries-stops-all-7nm-development
And when i think a little more about it, they will probably go the same way as Matrox or PowerVR. They will be there, but they won't be a big player any more.
www.anandtech.com/show/14795/globalfoundries-sues-tsmc-over-patent-infringement-apple-qualcomm-others-named-defendants
seams extraordinary to me that other companies are not listed , Intel for one.
If you go through the patents, some seam quite,, no all seam quite fundamental, some possibly to ANY node size.
1. Intel's process may not infringe on any of these patents.
2. There may be a cross licensing deal in place between GloFo and Intel already and there isn't one with TSMC.
3. GloFo may have decided to target TSMC first before they go after the 800lbs. gorillas that are Intel and Samsung.
This is a very interesting suit in that they are suing TSMC due to infringement and only asking that some chips or devices are stopped from coming into the US, not all. From reading comments on other sights, the most common suspicion is that GloFo is close to going under and or desperate and has decided to use it's patents to try and make money.
china vs US
cheap china labour vs expensive us labour
7nm vs 12nm
this shows what will happen to US if they mvoe everything to US..
development will slowdown, cost of manufacturing will be very higher
i dont think TSMC,apple,qualcomm,nvidia will let Glofo win....