Tuesday, February 2, 2021
US company Celgard, LLC has secured an interim injunction against its rival, Chinese company Shenzhen Senior Technology Material Co Ltd (“Senior”), that prevents Senior from importing or supplying its battery accessory products into the UK. The Court found there was a likelihood that Senior had misused Celgard’s confidential information and trade secrets, and that the UK was the most appropriate forum to try the dispute. This is the first injunction under the relatively new UK Trade Secrets Regulations 2018 based on the EU Trade Secrets Directive. The judgment, which has now been confirmed on appeal to the Court of Appeal, contains a number of helpful clarifications on the approach that the UK courts will take to the protection of confidential information, particularly on a cross-border basis.