PR86081

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina, Oct. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

Following a September 29 appeal hearing, the UK Court of Appeal on October 9

dismissed Senior's appeal of the UK High Court's July 30 Judgement, and August

6 Order, granting an injunction through trial in the terms sought by Celgard

that blocks Senior's import of Battery Separators into the UK through trial. In

its first decision to consider the EU Trade Secrets Directive and equivalent

domestic Regulations, the UK Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the UK High

Court to grant an interim injunction under the Regulations to prevent the

import of allegedly "infringing goods" into the UK. The Court of Appeal's

dismissal of Senior's appeal supports the UK High Court's Judgement in favor of

Celgard, which not only granted the injunction against Senior, but also held

that Celgard had established an arguable case that Senior had used its trade

secrets in developing and manufacturing battery separators and that England was

the proper forum for the importation dispute.

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Celgard, LLC (Celgard), a subsidiary of Polypore International, LP (Polypore)

first obtained an ex parte interim injunction Order against Shenzhen Senior

Technology Material Co., Ltd. (Senior) on May 7. On July 30, following a full

substantive hearing, the UK High Court gave Judgement continuing the injunction

and on August 6 made a corresponding Order in the terms sought by Celgard that

blocks Senior's import of Battery Separators into the UK through trial.

Earlier, on March 2, Celgard filed a Complaint against Defendants Shenzhen

Senior Technology Material Co. Ltd. (Senior-China), Shenzhen Senior Technology

Material Co. Ltd. (US) Research Institute (Senior-California), Xiaomin (Steven)

Zhang, Sun Town Technology, Inc., Global Venture Development, LLC, and Global

Venture Development, Inc. (collectively, Global Venture) (collectively, WDNC

Defendants) in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North

Carolina (WDNC) for trade secret misappropriation, unfair and deceptive trade

practices and unfair competition, civil conspiracy, unjust enrichment and

conversion. The WDNC Complaint alleges the WDNC Defendants, including a former

Celgard employee, Xiaomin (Steven) Zhang, now CTO of Senior-China who changed

his name to Bin Wang at the request of Senior-China, purposely and unlawfully

misappropriated Celgard's trade secrets and confidential information and

continue to do so. Several other violations of the law are also alleged. See

Release [https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2947925-1&h=861037274&u=https%3A%2F%2Fc212.net%2Fc%2Flink%2F%3Ft%3D0%26l%3Den%26o%3D2814943-1%26h%3D2944457234%26u%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.prnewswire.co.uk%252Fnews-releases%252Fcelgard-files-new-complaint-against-senior-xiaomin-steven-zhang-sun-town-and-global-venture-for-trade-secret-misappropriation-and-also-files-amended-complaint-in-patent-infringement-case-856580195.html%26a%3DSee%2BRelease&a=See+Release ].

Additionally, on August 6, Celgard filed a Third Amended Complaint against

Defendants including Shenzhen Senior Technology Material Co. Ltd. (US) Research

Institute (Senior-California), Farasis, and others (collectively, NDCA

Defendants) for patent infringement, breach of contract and breach of implied

covenant of good faith and fair dealing in the U.S. District Court for the

Northern District of California (NDCA). The NDCA Third Amended Complaint

alleges the NDCA Defendants infringe Celgard's United States Reissued Patent

RE47,520 (the '520 patent), formerly United States Patent 6,432,586 (the '586

patent), and Celgard's United States Patent No. 6,692,867 (the '867 patent).

In September 2019, Celgard successfully settled a patent infringement lawsuit

against Targray International. See Release [https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2947925-1&h=4017988785&u=https%3A%2F%2Fc212.net%2Fc%2Flink%2F%3Ft%3D0%26l%3Den%26o%3D2814943-1%26h%3D3407769144%26u%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.prnewswire.com%252Fnews-releases%252Fcelgard-successfully-sues-targray-on-infringement-of-celgards-ceramic-coated-battery-separator-patent-300914298.html%26a%3DSee%2BRelease&a=See+Release ].

Celgard also successfully settled two suits in June 2019, against MTI

Corporation. See Release [https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2947925-1&h=4229647883&u=https%3A%2F%2Fc212.net%2Fc%2Flink%2F%3Ft%3D0%26l%3Den%26o%3D2814943-1%26h%3D2166979077%26u%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.prnewswire.com%252Fnews-releases%252Fcelgard-successfully-sues-mti-corporation-on-mtis-infringement-of-celgards-ceramic-coated-battery-separator-patent-300859501.html%26a%3DSee%2BRelease&a=See+Release ].

Celgard intends to fully pursue its trade secret case against Senior in the UK

and in the US. The UK Court of Appeal win, the UK High Court interim

injunction, and the successful outcome of the Targray and MTI cases further

solidify the integrity of Celgard's intellectual property (IP) regarding trade

secrets and coated and uncoated separators for lithium-ion batteries. Celgard

will continue to prevent the unfair exploitation of its technology and IP to

safeguard its assets and customers.

About Celgard and Polypore

Celgard specializes in coated and uncoated dry-process microporous membranes

used as separators that are a major component of lithium-ion batteries.

Celgard's battery separator technology is important to the performance of

lithium-ion batteries for electric drive vehicles, energy storage systems and

other applications.

Celgard, LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Polypore International, LP, an

Asahi Kasei Company.

Polypore is a global company with facilities in nine countries specializing in

microporous membranes used in electric and nonelectric vehicles, energy storage

systems and specialty applications. Visit www.celgard.com and www.polypore.com.

SOURCE  Polypore International, LP

CONTACT: Beth Kitteringham, polycorpcom@polypore.net, (704) 587-8596,

www.polypore.com