TSMC injunction against SMIC denied by USA court
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), China's biggest chipmaker, said a U.S. court denied a preliminary injunction against it by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on Sept. 7. The California Superior Court of Alameda County's ruling doesn't constitute or reflect the final decision in the lawsuit for alleged breaches of agreement, Shanghai-based Semiconductor Manufacturing said in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing Sunday.
The injunction would have required Semiconductor Manufacturing to stop making and distributing certain kinds of technology, the statement said.
Semiconductor Manufacturing agreed two years ago to pay its Hsinchu, Taiwan-based rival US$175 million over six years to settle a claim that the Chinese company hand violated patents and trade secrets. Taiwan Semiconductor sued again in August 2006, alleging Semiconductor Manufacturing hadn't kept the 2005 agreement.
The China-based company denied the allegations and has also sued, alleging that Taiwan Semiconductor hadn't honored the agreement. The Taiwan-based company has in turned denied the allegations in the countersuit.
The Sept. 7 ruling requires Semiconductor Manufacturing to give Taiwan Semiconductor, the world's largest maker of custom chips, 28 days notice should Semiconductor Manufacturing plan to disclose certain technological information to other companies.
