I thought GF stopped all research and development. They abandoned moving beyond the 12nm process, so what exactly are they researching anymore?

I don't know how much merit this has, but it does smack of needing the money. GF has stopped R&D on 7nm which to me makes no sense, sure it may not be important for certain customers at the moment but it certainly will do at some point. I can only see that it is because they are short of cash.

"While semiconductor manufacturing has continued to shift to Asia, GF has bucked the trend by investing heavily in the American and European semiconductor industries...". New pressure at China, as if ANYTHING nowadays is being produced anywhere else except in China/Taiwan + the rest of Asia (India, Singapore, Malaysia, S. Korea...)... Even hamburgers sold at Times Square are produced in Hong Kong and the NBA players play in Vietnamese sneakers and throw the balls made in Kuala Lumpur...

the patent system is a joke.

Brit90:

I patented the Sun - so those who enjoy its use, will owe me billions. Greed Greed Greed - that is the whole point of a Patent system. Not to benefit mankind, but to benefit companies.

I patented breathing so who ever values his life owes me royalties ....and let's discuss how much does your breathing worth to you i am sure we can come to an agreement in the end !

Fox2232:

If so, I take patent on taking a leak and dump. Enjoy that very long suffering before death or give me access to breathing. 😉

Fine i would agree in shared patttents with you let's resume on drying everyone's wallet now and suing the world !

ZXRaziel:

Patent is a patent , if you catch someone using you intellectual property you have the legal right to demand compensation , if tsmc wanted to use some of the gf technology they could have just bought th he licence , it's that simple . So IF tsmc really did this and the courts will decide that they will have to pay its only fair .

lol...the patent system and fair. Ironically it's a sign they can't innovate (something that gives you patents) as all they have left is to litigate. It's not like most of these patents are new, it's just that GF is falling apart so it might as well screw a few people for a few more $$$ before it goes down. Although chances are as TMSC also has a lot of patents a bunch of which GF will also be infringing nothing will happen but the lawyers will get richer.

angelgraves13:

GF is done. They’re just trying to pay their shareholders before they close their doors for good.

I doubt they are done , they are the 4th most advanced foundry in the world afer tsmc Samsung and intel , there are a lot of demand for various soc etc on their 14nm and even older lithographies