TSMC Sues Former Executive Over Allegations Tied to Suspected Leak of Trade Secrets

By Yang Jie

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said it has filed a lawsuit against a former senior executive, alleging that he breached a non-compete agreement and may have disclosed trade secrets.

The Taiwanese company lodged the suit against Wei-Jen Lo, a longtime senior vice president for research and development who retired from TSMC this summer, and then joined Intel as an executive vice president soon after.

The Taiwanese chipmaker said in a statement on Tuesday that: "There is a high probability that Lo uses, leaks, discloses, delivers, or transfers TSMC's trade secrets and confidential information to Intel."

Intel didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Lo could not immediately be reached for comment.

TSMC said it was taking legal action, including potentially claiming damages, based on the terms of Lo's employment contract with the chipmaker, the non-compete agreement he signed, and regulations such as the Trade Secrets Act.

According to the statement, TSMC said that in March 2024, Lo was re-assigned to a role no longer requiring the overseeing or managing of the research-and-development of the company's cutting-edge chip production, but still allegedly continued to convene meetings with staff of the R&D departments to provide information on technologies under development.

Last week, a spokesman for Taiwan's prosecutors' office said officials had initiated a probe into the suspected leak of TSMC's advanced chipmaking technology to determine if there had been any violation of national security laws.

Earlier this year, Taiwanese prosecutors indicted three people in a separate case involving the alleged theft of advanced chipmaking technology from TSMC. That case was Taiwan's first use of national-security laws to prosecute theft of critical semiconductor technology.

Write to Yang Jie at jie.yang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 25, 2025 06:55 ET (11:55 GMT)