Alphabiz - U.S. Court Bars SK Nexilis from Raising Trade Secret Claims in Patent Case Against Solus Advanced Materials

Solus Advanced Materials’ copper foil plant in Hungary. (Photo: Solus Advanced Materials)

[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] SEOUL, Oct. 15 — A U.S. federal court in Texas has ruled to prohibit SK Nexilis from asserting trade secret infringement claims in its ongoing battery foil patent litigation against Solus Advanced Materials, a decision expected to significantly alter SK Nexilis’s legal strategy going forward.

According to Solus Advanced Materials, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a pretrial order barring SK Nexilis from arguing or presenting evidence that Solus Advanced Materials had misappropriated its trade secrets. As a result, SK Nexilis will be unable to claim trade secret infringement during the upcoming trial proceedings.

The court also granted Solus Advanced Materials the right to explain the background and development process of its independently developed technology and related patents. This ruling is seen as a key opportunity for Solus to demonstrate that its proprietary technology was developed independently.

In addition, the U.S. court denied two motions previously filed by SK Nexilis — one to prohibit Solus from referring to “the circumstances of losing specific clients,” and another to bar claims that SK Nexilis’s “infringement testing was insufficient.” The first motion sought to restrict any discussion of trust-related issues between SK Nexilis and its customers, while the second attempted to block Solus from arguing that SK Nexilis’s testing procedures and scope were inadequate.

The pretrial rulings serve to clarify the scope of legal issues and admissible evidence before the case proceeds to a jury trial. Legal observers note that the outcome is likely to have a substantial impact on both parties’ litigation strategies. The first trial in the U.S. patent infringement case is expected to be rescheduled from next month to between late this year and February 2026.

Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)