GlobalFoundries announced on Thursday that it has taken legal steps against Tower Semiconductor, accusing the Israel-based contract manufacturer of infringing 11 patents related to the manufacture of chips used in smart phones and other electronic devices.
The New York state-based foundry said it has submitted two complaints to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas and filed a parallel case with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). GlobalFoundries said the ITC filing seeks an order to block imports into the United States of chips that Tower Semiconductor produced using technologies covered by the patents cited in the complaints.
Tower Semiconductor had not provided a response to requests for comment as of the time the notice was issued.
The two companies operate in a segment of the semiconductor industry that differs from high-performance logic fabs focused on the smallest, fastest processors. While larger manufacturers concentrate on cutting-edge compute nodes, both GlobalFoundries and Tower Semiconductor are specialty foundries that concentrate on niche technologies such as radio-frequency chips and silicon photonics.
GlobalFoundries also recently outlined expansion plans, saying it intends to invest $16 billion to grow its Vermont and New York facilities, with an emphasis on research and development.
Readers evaluating Tower Semiconductor as an investment may have seen promotional material embedded in market platforms. For example, a third-party tool described in platform copy evaluates TSEM alongside thousands of companies every month using more than 100 financial metrics. That copy stated the tool uses AI to assess fundamentals, momentum and valuation, and cited past winners including Super Micro Computer with a listed gain of +185% and AppLovin with a listed gain of +157%.
This dispute centers on intellectual property claims tied directly to manufacturing methods and processes used to produce chips for consumer electronics and other devices. The dual-track approach - federal court suits combined with an ITC petition - signals GlobalFoundries is pursuing both monetary remedies and trade relief aimed at restricting imports of allegedly infringing products.
Key takeaways
- GlobalFoundries has filed two lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas and lodged a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission alleging Tower Semiconductor infringed 11 patents.
- The ITC filing aims to block the import of chips into the U.S. that GlobalFoundries says were produced using patented technologies.
- Both companies operate in specialty foundry niches such as radio-frequency and silicon photonics, distinct from manufacturers focused on the smallest, fastest compute chips.
Risks and uncertainties
- Legal outcomes are uncertain - the lawsuits and ITC proceeding could result in injunctions, damages, settlement, or dismissal, and those outcomes will affect the semiconductor manufacturing and supply segments.
- Supply-chain and market impacts - if the ITC grants import relief, U.S. supply of affected chips could be disrupted, with implications for device makers that rely on those components.
- Commercial responses by the parties - Tower Semiconductor's reaction, whether defensive litigation, settlement talks, or design-arounds for the contested technologies, remains unknown and could affect foundry competitive dynamics.