For Semiconductor Companies

Every agreement
you sign was written
by their lawyers.

Foundry agreements. OSAT agreements. Hyperscaler pilots. IP licenses. DARPA contracts. Automotive supply. All drafted by the other side — and signed by teams with no legal staff. LegalForensics reads them for yours.

Surface financial risk and hidden liability before you commit.

Analysis calibrated to your side of the table — not neutral, not generic.

A verdict and a plan — not a summary to interpret on your own.

Foundry agreements  ·  OSAT agreements (assembly & test)  ·  IP licensing  ·  Hyperscaler pilots  ·  DARPA / DoD OTAs  ·  University spinout licenses  ·  Automotive supply  ·  EDA vendor agreements  ·  NDAs  ·  MSAs

The counterparty's lawyers wrote it. You're signing it anyway.

Every high-stakes agreement a semiconductor startup signs in its first years of operation was drafted by the other side — foundries, hyperscalers, defense primes, universities, automotive OEMs. The terms reflect their interests, not yours. Most teams sign without a lawyer in the room.

Foundry agreements protect the foundry Supply allocation, yield thresholds, wafer bank penalties, mask ownership, and change-of-control clauses all default in the foundry's favour. The asymmetry is structural, not accidental.
Hyperscaler and OEM pilots lock in exposure Customer-drafted pilot agreements contain IP ownership clauses, auto-renewal, and one-sided indemnification. What looks like a trial often becomes a binding commitment.
University and DARPA licenses constrain your freedom Spinout IP licenses carry field-of-use restrictions, milestone-based rights, and government march-in provisions that limit what you can commercialize and with whom.
No legal team to catch it in time Most semiconductor startups from seed through Series B have no general counsel. The exposure gets locked in before anyone reads the fine print carefully.

Six outputs. One decision.

Every analysis is specific to your agreement and your position — fabless buyer, IP licensee, defense contractor, or spinout founder.

Risk-ranked clause summary

Every clause with commercial consequence ranked by severity — important, review, or note. No noise, no filler. Perspective-calibrated to your side of the table.

Perspective-aware analysis

The same clause reads differently depending on which side you're on. LegalForensics identifies your role and calibrates the analysis accordingly — buyer, licensee, subcontractor, or spinout.

A clear verdict

Proceed, proceed with caution, pause, or renegotiate — with the specific asks to bring back to the other side before you sign.

Foundry Model Risk Index (F-MRI)

For foundry agreements: five dimensions scored RED, AMBER, or GREEN based on your contract and company context — supply commitment, yield, delivery, economic protection, exit flexibility.

Path to low risk

For every critical finding: a specific contract fix to negotiate and a situation fix to address the underlying exposure regardless of what the contract says.

Situation simulator

Change your company context — single source, critical launch, tight margins — and see how your risk score shifts. Built for pre-negotiation scenario planning.

Foundry Model Risk Index

The only scoring framework built specifically for fabless-to-foundry agreements. Five dimensions, each scored against your contract language and amplified by your company context.

A single-source startup with a critical launch deadline faces different exposure from the same clause than an enterprise buyer with dual-source flexibility. F-MRI reflects that.

Supply Commitment RED

Is the foundry contractually obligated to supply you — or can they reduce allocation at their discretion?

Yield Protection AMBER

What happens when wafer yield falls below your product's requirements?

Delivery Enforcement AMBER

Can you hold the foundry to schedule commitments — or are delays at their discretion?

Economic Protection GREEN

Are you protected from price escalation, wafer bank penalties, and unexpected fees?

Exit Flexibility RED

Can you switch foundries, be acquired, or terminate without catastrophic consequences?

The questions that matter before you sign.

These are the real questions fabless teams should be asking — and usually aren't, until after the agreement is executed.

Is the foundry obligated to supply you — or can they reduce your allocation with 30 days notice?

Who owns the mask sets and reticles funded by your NRE payment — you, or the foundry?

If yield falls to 60% of qualified process yield, who absorbs the financial loss?

Can the foundry change the process node affecting your qualified product without your consent?

What is the maximum wafer bank liability you've committed to — and under what conditions is it triggered?

If your company is acquired, does this agreement require foundry consent before the deal closes?

Are price escalation clauses capped — or can the foundry increase wafer prices without limit?

Does the force majeure clause give the foundry a broad exit while leaving your supply commitment intact?

Upload your agreement. Get a decision.

01

Upload your agreement

Upload any contract as a PDF or Word document — foundry agreement, IP license, customer pilot, DARPA OTA. The system identifies the parties and confirms which side you're on.

02

Set your company context

Single-source or dual-source? Critical launch timeline or flexible? Tight margins or healthy buffer? Your context determines which risks are most dangerous for you specifically.

03

Get your risk analysis and verdict

Receive a ranked list of clauses to negotiate, a clear verdict, and for foundry agreements — a scored F-MRI across five dimensions with specific language to push back on.

Ready to review your agreement?

Request access to LegalForensics. Upload your first contract free — foundry agreement, IP license, customer pilot, or anything you're about to sign.

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