NEW YORK-headquartered SI Group, a global developer and manufacturer of chemical intermediates, specialty resins, and solutions, has won ts case in a landmark intellectual property lawsuit before the International Trade Commission (ITC).
SI Group had filed a complaint with the ITC alleging that Sino Legend and the other respondents had misappropriated SI Group trade secrets by importing certain tackifier resins into the US.
Sino Legend is the largest Asian manufacturer of resins for the tyre and rubber industries, holding 70% of the Chinese market and 30% share for the rest of Asia. It also supplies to 13 of the top 15 multinational tyre companies operating in the region, as well as to the majority of China’s domestic manufacturers.
The subjected Sino Legend products included SL-1801, SL-1801 LFP, SL-1802, and SL-1802 LFP tackifier resins. In a final determination issued January 15, 2014, the ITC confirmed that Sino Legend, Red Avenue and certain affiliates of those companies violated Section 337 of the US Tariff Act by importing rubber resins made using SI Group trade secrets. As a result, the ITC has imposed a 10-year ban, effective immediately, on the importation of the affected products into the US.
In the complaint filed on 21 May, 2012, Sino Legend was alleged to hire a plant manager from SI Group’s Shanghai manufacturing plant, and since then, Sino Legend has been producing rubber resins in competition with SI Group’s proprietary rubber resins.