Zeon files lawsuit against Chinese battery materials manufacturer

Tokyo - Zeon Corp. has filed a civil lawsuit against Chinese manufacturer of battery materials Shenzhen Haodyne Technology Shenzhen Haodyne Technology Co. Ltd for alleged infringement of its intellectual property.

The case, filed with the Intermediate People’s Court of Shenzhen earlier in January, "seeks damages and an injunction against the disclosure, use, and licensing of trade secrets" under China’s Unfair Competition law.

The lawsuit alleges that Shenzhen Haodyne “illegally obtained and is using trade secrets related to Zeon’s lithium-ion battery binders,” said Zeon in a recent statement.

The Japanese materials supplier said it had been unsuccessful in its attempts to have Shenzhen Haodyne rectify its suspected misappropriation of Zeon’s trade secrets.

Zeon has been supplying binder materials for batteries since 1995 and has developed its flagship aqueous SBR technology for use in negative electrodes.

The Japanese group holds a broad intellectual property portfolio related to technologies used in Li-ion batteries.