- IBM and Global Foundries agree to resolve previous lawsuits
- Details of the agreement remain undisclosed
- The agreement arises from two lawsuits in 2021 and 2023
IBM and Global Foundries have confirmed they have reached an agreement, years in the making, to effectively resolve all disputed matters, including breach of contract, trade secrets and intellectual property claims.
Confirmation of the agreement came from the two companies (Global Foundries, IBM), marking the end of their current bilateral legal dispute.
The two companies stated that they were satisfied with the outcome, although the exact details of the agreement remain secret.
The legal dispute between IBM and Global Foundries is resolved
After selling its chip manufacturing business to Global Foundries in 2015, IBM filed a lawsuit against the company for allegedly violating a contract that stipulated that GF would supply IBM with advanced processors for a decade after the transaction.
Two years later, Global Foundries responded with its own lawsuit, accusing IBM of sharing GF trade secrets with chipmakers Intel and Rapidus.
At the time, in 2023, GF stated: “It also raises concerns about the extent to which IBM may have unlawfully disclosed GF’s intellectual property and trade secrets beyond these two highly publicized partnerships.”
The company sought compensatory and punitive damages and for IBM to stop “new unlawful disclosures and uses of GF’s trade secrets.”
“We are pleased to have reached a positive resolution with IBM and look forward to new opportunities to leverage our long-standing partnership to further strengthen the semiconductor industry,” said Dr. Thomas Caulfield, president and CEO of GF.
IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna added: “Resolving these disputes is an important step forward for our companies and will allow us to focus on future innovations that will benefit our organizations and customers.”
