TSMC Counter-Sues US Chip Rival GlobalFoundries for Patent Infringement

Apple supplier TSMC has counter-sued smaller contract chipmaking rival GlobalFoundries in the United States, Germany and Singapore, alleging the US firm has infringed 25 of its patents.

In the lawsuits filed on Monday, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) asked for injunctions to stop GlobalFoundries' manufacture and sale of chips that allegedly infringe on the patents, the Taiwanese company said in a statement on Tuesday.

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, said it was seeking "substantial monetary damages from GlobalFoundries" but did not specify an amount.

The lawsuits come just over a month after GlobalFoundries sued TSMC for allegedly infringing 16 patents, seeking to stop imports into the United States and Germany of products made with technologies using those patents.

Santa Clara, California-based GlobalFoundries at the time said the lawsuits were aimed at protecting its investments in the United States. The company sought unspecified "significant" damages based on what it said was TSMC's unlawful use of its technology in its "tens of billions of dollars of sales".

GlobalFoundries alleged that Apple, Qualcomm, Alphabet's Google, Nvidia, Lenovo, and Taiwan' MediaTek were among TSMC customers affected by the complaints.

TSMC at the time called GlobalFoundries' allegations "baseless".

© Thomson Reuters 2019