TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — TSMC plans to offer its in-house trade secret registry to suppliers and partners in Europe and the US, strengthening innovation while safeguarding its competitive edge, Reuters reported Saturday.
The world’s largest chipmaker, which produces advanced chips for Apple and Nvidia, developed the system to catalog and protect sensitive information. TSMC Associate General Counsel Hsieh Fu-yuan (謝福源) said the company aims to promote the platform in Europe and the US.
Hsieh, who also chairs the Taiwan Association for Trade Secrets Protection, said the registry was first built in 2013 and is now used by 20 Taiwan firms including ASE Technology. Suppliers who adopt the system can build strong innovative culture and management, he said.
The system has logged more than 610,000 cases as of July, Hsieh explained. It uses AI tools to monitor projects, track collaborations with partners, and identify standout talent.
Hsieh said the platform was designed to encourage innovation as well as protect proprietary information. The goal is to retain technology within companies and reinforce TSMC’s competitive edge.
Cybersecurity has been a key concern since the start, he added. The database uses automatic encryption to ensure that even if hackers obtained files, they could not read the contents.
Despite such safeguards, TSMC has recently reported a theft case, highlighting the challenges of protecting trade secrets. Legal experts say the registry offers a valuable tool for R&D-driven firms to defend intellectual property.
Jeanne Wang, a partner at Taipei’s Tsar and Tsai Law Firm, said the system makes it easier for companies to present evidence in disputes. “Without an inventory, a company would need to expend significant effort to locate information, but with a registration system, retrieval is much faster,” she said.
Taiwan’s TSMC to market trade secrets system | Taiwan News | Aug. 30, 2025 16:34
Chipmaker says registry can help suppliers innovate and strengthen protection | Aug. 30, 2025 16:34