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Contributor: PR Newswire New York
Thursday, August 06 2020 - 22:00
AsiaNet
Celgard Successful in UK Court and is Granted Injunction Against Senior Battery Separator Imports Through Trial
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina, Aug. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --

Following the United Kingdom (UK) court's grant on May 7, 2020 of an interim 
injunction against Shenzhen Senior Technology Material Co., Ltd. (Senior) as 
requested by Celgard, LLC (Celgard), a subsidiary of Polypore International, LP 
(Polypore), and the UK court's May 21, 2020 order continuing the effect of the 
interim injunction, the UK court issued a Judgement on July 30, 2020 granting 
an injunction through trial and will make an order in the terms sought by 
Celgard that blocks Senior's import of Battery Separators into the UK through 
trial. 

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1224376/Celgard.jpg 
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/798399/PolyPore_Logo.jpg

The court's Judgement in favor of Celgard not only granted the injunction 
against Senior, it also held that Celgard had established a serious issue to be 
tried that Senior had used its trade secrets in developing and manufacturing 
battery separators and that England was the proper forum for the importation 
dispute. Celgard intends to fully pursue its trade secret case against Senior.

On April 30, 2020, Celgard filed an application for an urgent injunction 
against Senior in the High Court of Justice in London, England. On May 7, on an 
ex parte basis, the UK court granted an interim injunction to prevent Senior 
from importing certain battery separators into the UK.

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.

Additionally, Celgard filed a Second Amended Complaint against Defendants 
including Shenzhen Senior Technology Material Co. Ltd. (US) Research Institute 
(Senior-California) 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 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. 

The NDCA Second 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). See Release ( 
https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2877325-1&h=3055091476&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 
).

In December 2019, Celgard filed a First Amended Complaint in the NDCA adding to 
the suit the Defendants Farasis,Sun Town, and Global Venture. See Release ( 
https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/celgard-files-amended-complaint-adding-farasis-sun-town-and-global-venture-to-lawsuit-against-senior-for-patent-infringement-and-trade-secret-misappropriation-856158718.html 
). 

In September 2019, Celgard filed suit against Senior who sells separators 
globally that they make in Shenzhen, China. Celgard's Complaint alleged Senior 
had infringed Celgard's U.S. '520 and '867 patents, and has unlawfully 
misappropriated and misused Celgard's trade secrets and confidential 
information, among other violations and seeks compensation for damages. See 
Release ( 
https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2877325-1&h=2851546445&u=https%3A%2F%2Fc212.net%2Fc%2Flink%2F%3Ft%3D0%26l%3Den%26o%3D2814943-1%26h%3D2914048345%26u%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.prnewswire.com%252Fnews-releases%252Fcelgard-files-lawsuit-against-senior-for-patent-infringement-of-ceramic-coated-separators-used-in-lithium-batteries-300919235.html%253Ftc%253Deml_cleartime%26a%3DSee%2BRelease&a=See+Release 
).

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=2877325-1&h=1782004095&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=2877325-1&h=2035405765&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 
).

The UK Judgement and the successful outcome of the Targray and MTI cases 
further solidifies the integrity of Celgard's intellectual property (IP) 
regarding 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, +1 (704) 587-8596 
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