Chip maker GlobalFoundries said today that it has filed a lawsuit against IBM, accusing it of illegally sharing confidential intellectual property and trade secrets.
GlobalFoundries said in the complaint that IBM shared intellectual property and trade secrets with Japanese semiconductor company Rapidus. Currently, IBM is working with Rapidus to develop and produce cutting-edge 2nm chips.
In addition, GlobalFoundries alleges that IBM illegally disclosed and misused its intellectual property to Intel. IBM announced in 2021 that it will work with Intel to advance research on next-generation logic and packaging technologies to accelerate innovation in semiconductor development and manufacturing.
“IBM may have unfairly received hundreds of millions of dollars in licensing revenue and other benefits,” GlobalFoundries said in a statement. The indictment says GlobalFoundries and IBM have collaborated on technology for decades in Albany, N.Y. . In 2015, GlobalFoundries received exclusive rights to license and disclose these technologies.
To this end, GlobalFoundries today sought compensatory and punitive damages from IBM, and asked the court to order IBM to stop using these trade secrets.
GlobalFoundries also said that IBM has been “poaching” the company’s engineers. Since announcing its partnership with Rapidus in December 2022, IBM has stepped up its poaching efforts. Therefore, GlobalFoundries also asked the court to order an order prohibiting IBM from doing this.
This is also the second time GlobalFoundries has sued IBM since it acquired the IBM semiconductor factory in 2015. In 2021, GlobalFoundries asked a judge to rule that the company did not breach a contract with IBM. Previously, IBM claimed $2.5 billion from GlobalFoundries for breach of contract. A GlobalFoundries spokesman said the lawsuit is still ongoing.
