GlobalFoundries (GF) on Wednesday Said it sued IBM For revealing trade secrets about chip technology jointly developed by Intel and the Rapidus consortium in Japan. The lawsuit also alleges that IBM is actively poaching his GF engineers. Foundry is seeking indemnification, punitive damages, an order preventing further unauthorized disclosure, and an injunction to stop its improper registration practices.
GlobalFoundries alleges that IBM improperly disclosed proprietary IP and trade secrets it acquired after acquiring IBM’s microelectronics division in 2015. The complaint alleges that IBM management portrays the collaboration between Intel and Rapidus as relying on technology developed over decades from research conducted at IBM. Albany Nanotech Complex. But GlobalFoundries considers its IP to be its own since it acquired IBM’s microelectronics business eight years ago.
IBM is currently working with Japan’s Rapidus consortium on the latter’s 2nm manufacturing process, and with Intel on various semiconductor-related technologies, as part of a partnership announced in 2021. The manufacturing technology currently being developed by Intel and Rapidus relies on Gate All Around (GAA). transistor. This type of transistor has been studied for years by various researchers at the Albany NanoTech Complex.
It’s unclear what exactly IBM disclosed as part of the Intel-Rapidus collaboration, but it’s possible that at least some of the IP that IBM may have shared stemmed from research in the microelectronics division. there is. To that end, GlobalFoundries claims that by sharing this IP with Intel and Rapidus, IBM is unfairly earning “potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in licensing revenue and other benefits.” As a result, GlobalFoundries seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
Another concern GlobalFoundries has is IBM’s aggressive hiring of engineers from Fab 8, and the acceleration of these efforts since the announcement of IBM/Rapidus in December 2022. That’s it. GF is now asking the court to end these hiring practices, which the company calls illegal.
GlobalFoundries stopped developing cutting-edge process technology in 2018. It is unclear if IP developed prior to 2015 at the Albany NanoTech Complex is required. At some point, however, the company will have to design its own sub-10nm and GAA-based production nodes to meet the growing needs of its customers.
IBM argues that GlobalFoundries’ allegations are baseless, and the plaintiffs allege the abrupt change in GF’s roadmap for 2018 and the law’s inability of IBM to produce processors at GF using state-of-the-art processes. filed a complaint to gain influence over IBM in a legal dispute. technology.
“GlobalFoundries filed this nonsubstantial lawsuit after a court dismissed the company’s attempts to dismiss IBM’s allegations of legitimate fraud and breach of contract,” said a statement issued by IBM. Reuters read. “Their allegations are completely baseless and I am confident the court will agree.”
