Overview
- Taiwan’s High Prosecutors Office said its Intellectual Property Branch is investigating reports that Wei-Jen Lo removed restricted materials from TSMC before joining Intel in late October.
- Reuters reports Lo is currently working at Intel and, according to a source, reports directly to CEO Lip-Bu Tan, though Intel has not publicly announced his appointment.
- TSMC is collecting evidence for possible legal action, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs is cooperating with prosecutors to evaluate any threat to core technologies and customer relationships.
- Local media say the materials involve TSMC’s N2, A16 and A14 process technologies and describe large volumes of handwritten notes and boxes, but the allegations have not been proven.
- National Development Council head and TSMC board member Yeh Chun-hsien said Lo had been reassigned more than a year before his retirement and did not have access to the company’s core technology.