TSMC formally sues ex-SVP over alleged transfer of secrets to Intel

[Daniel Nenni]

On November 25th, 2025, TSMC filed a lawsuit in the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court against Wei-Jen Lo, the company’s former Senior Vice President. The lawsuit is based on the terms of Employment Contract between TSMC and Lo, the Non-compete Agreement signed by Lo during his employment, and regulations such as the Trade Secrets Act. Wei-Jen Lo joined TSMC as Vice President in July 2004 and was promoted to Senior Vice President in February 2014.

He officially retired from TSMC on July 27th, 2025.In March 2024, Lo was transferred to TSMC’s Corporate Strategy Development, a staff unit providing consultation to the Chairman and CEO and has not been responsible for supervising or managing the affairs of the Research & Development function since. However, after assuming this position, Lo allegedly continued to convene meetings with staff of the Research & Development departments (Note: This refers to employees whose job grades are below Senior Vice President, and who do not have a supervisory or subordinate relationship with Lo.) to provide information for him to understand the advanced technologies currently, and planned to be, under development by TSMC.

During his employment, Lo had signed a Non-disclosure Agreement and Non-compete Agreement. When the General Counsel of TSMC, Sylvia Fang, conducted exit interview with Lo on July 22nd,2025, she provided a reminder notice for Lo to read thoroughly. During the exit interview, the General Counsel also explained the non-compete obligation after separation and inquired about his plans after retirement, Lo replied that he would join an academic institution, and did not mention his plan to join Intel. However, Lo joined Intel as Executive Vice President (EVP) soon after his retirement from TSMC. There is a high probability that Lo uses, leaks, discloses, delivers, or transfers TSMC’s trade secrets and confidential information to Intel, thus making legal actions (including claiming damages for breach of contract) necessary

 

[Maximus]

TSMC formally sues ex-SVP over alleged transfer of secrets to Intel
Joseph Chen, DIGITIMES Asia, Taipei
Tuesday 25 November 2025

TSMC said on November 25, 2025, that it has filed a lawsuit against its former senior vice president, Wei-Jen Lo, in Taiwan's Intellectual Property and Commercial Court, accusing him of violating his employment contract, a non-compete agreement, and obligations under the Trade Secrets Act.

Lo joined TSMC(2330.TW) as a vice president in 2004, rose to senior vice president in 2014, and officially retired on July 27, 2025.

The company said Lo joined Intel as an executive vice president almost immediately after retirement, triggering concerns that he may be using, disclosing, or transferring TSMC trade secrets and confidential information to a direct competitor. TSMC said this left it no choice but to seek damages and pursue legal remedies.

According to TSMC, its general counsel Sylvia Fang conducted Lo's exit interview on July 22, 2025, during which his non-compete obligations were reiterated and a reminder notice was issued. Lo reportedly told the company he planned to join an academic institution and made no mention of Intel. He had previously signed both non-disclosure and non-compete agreements.

TSMC also alleged that Lo's conduct before retirement raised red flags. After he was reassigned in March 2024 to Corporate Strategy Development—a staff unit advising the chairman and CEO and not responsible for overseeing R&D—Lo purportedly continued to seek access to advanced-technology information.

The company said he held meetings with R&D employees below the senior-vice-president grade and outside his reporting line, requesting details on technologies under development or planned for future nodes.

TSMC said these actions, taken together, constitute a serious breach of contractual and legal obligations and pose a significant risk to its core intellectual property.

In recent days, Lo has been at the center of a widening controversy in Taiwan following allegations that he copied advanced-process data before leaving TSMC and joining Intel. Taiwanese authorities have opened an investigation into whether his actions violated national security laws.

Lo retired from TSMC in July 2025 and reportedly joined Intel at the end of October. Local media have said the data in question involved TSMC's A16 and A14 process nodes, prompting the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the High Prosecutors' Office to examine the case. Economics minister Ming-Hsin Kung has confirmed that prosecutors are gathering information. Lo, who spent decades at TSMC and played a major role in its high-yield 2nm technology, has not commented publicly.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan sought to tamp down the speculation during the Semiconductor Industry Association Awards event, telling Bloomberg that the reports were "rumor and speculation" and stressing that Intel respects intellectual-property rights. He offered no details on Intel's internal review or hiring processes but rejected the idea that Lo had brought confidential TSMC information to the company. His remarks came as TSMC continued its own internal fact-finding and Taiwanese prosecutors began collecting preliminary evidence.

Article edited by Jack Wu

TSMC formally sues ex-SVP over alleged transfer of secrets to Intel

TSMC said on November 25, 2025, that it has filed a lawsuit against its former senior vice president, Wei-Jen Lo, in Taiwan's Intellectual Property and Commercial Court, accusing him of violating his employment contract, a non-compete agreement, and obligations under the Trade Secrets Act.

www.digitimes.com

 

[Maximus]

What I’m curious about is what LBT was originally thinking. Switching sides with Lo’s position will definitely raise legal issues, are they betting that TSMC won’t take action?

 

[Daniel Nenni]

What I’m curious about is what LBT was originally thinking. Switching sides with Lo’s position will definitely raise legal issues, are they betting that TSMC won’t take action?

Now that we know TSMC's side of it, this is definitely an unforced error on LBT's part. I am seriously discouraged by this. It goes to character and leadership skills. Let's see how he gets out of this one.

 

[Erik F]

What I’m curious about is what LBT was originally thinking. Switching sides with Lo’s position will definitely raise legal issues, are they betting that TSMC won’t take action?

Or maybe Trump will?

 

[coldsolder215]

No way this happens without backing from the US government, the bet being that Taiwan can't bite the hand that "protects" it. I seriously doubt this geriatric holds any secrets that will reverse the arc of American industrial capability, but if you're a talentless political apparatchik who internalized spy movies as reality you probably think otherwise. TSMC is going to learn the hard way that despite all our talk of "democracy", "free markets", and "laws" that the real sovereign is he who decides the state of exception, and we've been living in that state for no less than 24 years now. When empires collapse into naked militarism and gestapo tactics they will displace as much of that burden onto their colonies as possible, just as has been done with Ukraine (unwillingly) and Israel (very willingly). The net effect will probably be the same, driving Taiwan into the arms of China just as we've done with Russia and Iran.

 

[Fred Chen]

Or maybe Trump will?

No way this happens without backing from the US government, the bet being that Taiwan can't bite the hand that "protects" it. I seriously doubt this geriatric holds any secrets that will reverse the arc of American industrial capability, but if you're a talentless political apparatchik who internalized spy movies as reality you probably think otherwise. TSMC is going to learn the hard way that despite all our talk of "democracy", "free markets", and "laws" that the real sovereign is he who decides the state of exception, and we've been living in that state for no less than 24 years now. When empires collapse into naked militarism and gestapo tactics they will displace as much of that burden onto their colonies as possible, just as has been done with Ukraine (unwillingly) and Israel (very willingly). The net effect will probably be the same, driving Taiwan into the arms of China just as we've done with Russia and Iran.

It's not an action against Intel (yet). It's against Lo, may go after his assets.

 

[Daniel Nenni]

It's not an action against Intel (yet). It's against Lo, may go after his assets.

It may not be against Intel yet but I can assure you Intel and Lip-Bu will not benefit from this decision. The relationship between TSMC and Intel is worth far more than that of employing Wei-Jen Lo. Just my opinion of course.

This does answer the question: Was the hiring of Wei-Jen Lo by Intel cleared by TSMC executives. Cleary it was not.

 

[tedc]

Now that we know TSMC's side of it, this is definitely an unforced error on LBT's part. I am seriously discouraged by this. It goes to character and leadership skills. Let's see how he gets out of this one.

If what we've heard is true, it means at some point LBT did the political calculation and found whatever Dr. Lo is bringing to outweigh any legal, financial, or political repercussions with a strategic partner.

I'm skeptical that this ends as a net positive for Intel. Being cavalier with industry trade secrets is exactly the sort of reputation that could doom a foundry. It's a distraction when the company needs to be laser focused on its goals and turnaround plan.

 

[MKWVentures]

Now that we know TSMC's side of it, this is definitely an unforced error on LBT's part. I am seriously discouraged by this. It goes to character and leadership skills. Let's see how he gets out of this one.

I am surprised about this also ... LBT is the relationship expert. But I have seen these issues in both US and Taiwan companies. Hopefully this is a "pre-emptive strike". (Return documents, sign a customized NDA, we are good). There are fairly well known strategies on avoiding Issues like this

couple questions:
Is Wei Jen actually a employee of Intel? the correct path is to be "special advisor" to LBT or Naga (or the Taiwan Sales Director) as a contractor for at least one year. no public announcement

Is this just between him and TSMC ? Seems like TSMC is mad about Wei Jen not informing them. Again an updated NDA, and an Intel agreement with TSMC is a typical outcome. Often this will have specific limitations "Cannot have discussions with components

I have seen cases where an employee took 1000s of file and the company dropped the suit after settling with the employee and the employee deleting documents. I have also seen cases where the new company had to not terminate the person to settle with old company.

While you cannot take Confidential material, you can use knowledge and skills to help other companies. just be open and respectful of all companies and their boundaries.

Can LBT perform his magic on this one?