In response to claims filed by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (TSMC), Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) issued a statement yesterday and said that it will "vigorously defend against new claims from TSMC and advocates fair competition."

On August 18, TSMC filed a new proceeding against Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC).

TSMC claimed a trade secret misappropriation and patent infringement regarding three patents numbered 6121091, 6251795 and 6235653. The misappropriation claims are currently pending before the California State Court, and the infringement claims regarding three patents are the subject of a new suit TSMC filed concurrently with the ITC proceeding, against SMIC in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

SMIC stressed that it respects the intellectual property of others. As with the previous claims in TSMC's other lawsuits, SMIC is in the process of conducting an investigation of the new claims and will assess and formulate a strong defense to the new claims.

"Given SMIC's reputable technology partners and customers, and strong experienced in-house technical team, SMIC's success has been accomplished without the need to misappropriate any third party's trade secrets," the company said.