Intel on Thursday pushed back against accusations that a newly hired executive had carried sensitive information from one of its fiercest competitors. The claims centre on Lo Wei-jen, a former senior figure at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, whose abrupt move to Intel has triggered a legal fight over intellectual property and obligations that extend beyond his retirement.
TSMC, the world’s dominant chip manufacturer, disclosed this week that it has taken Lo to Taiwan’s Intellectual Property and Commercial Court, arguing that there is a “high probability” he shared confidential material with his new employer. The case leans heavily on the restrictive clauses in Lo’s employment contract, including non-disclosure and non-compete provisions, as well as Taiwan’s Trade Secrets Act.
Lo left the company in July after decades of service, telling TSMC’s lawyer during an exit interview that he intended to join an academic institution. Instead, he resurfaced at Intel as an executive vice president, a move that instantly raised questions inside Taiwan’s semiconductor sector, where high-level talent rarely crosses corporate borders without scrutiny.
Read also: Nvidia Earnings Ease AI Bubble Fears But Markets Stay Cautious
Intel, however, adopted a dismissive tone in its statement, insisting that the allegations do not align with what it knows. The company said it maintains “rigorous policies and controls” that bar employees from using or transmitting proprietary information belonging to any third party. “Based on everything we know, we have no reason to believe there is any merit to the allegations involving Mr Lo,” Intel said.
The firm also pointed out that Lo is no stranger to its engineering culture. Before joining TSMC years ago, he had spent 18 years at Intel working on wafer-processing technologies, a background the company argues makes his hire less unusual than the lawsuit suggests. “Talent movement across companies is a common and healthy part of our industry, and this situation is no different,” the statement said.
TSMC did not respond to requests for additional comment, and court filings have not yet been made public. What is clear is that the dispute lands at a time when Taiwan’s chip industry, a linchpin of the global economy, is increasingly wary of personnel shifts that might expose trade secrets in a sector built on closely guarded knowledge.