## Facts

- Celgard, a U.S.-based battery-separator manufacturer, alleged that a former employee (Dr. Zhang) left under a nondisclosure obligation and provided Celgard’s confidential technical information to Shenzhen Senior Technology Material Co. Ltd. (Senior), a competing manufacturer in China.
- Celgard alleged Senior used the information (including technical “recipes” and manufacturing know-how) to make competing separator films.
- Celgard sought relief only for conduct in the United Kingdom: importing and marketing Senior’s separators in the UK and the resulting UK commercial harm (including loss of UK business).
- The High Court granted (1) permission to serve Senior out of the jurisdiction (in China) and (2) an interim injunction restraining importation/marketing of the relevant products in the UK pending trial.
- Senior appealed, arguing Celgard had not sufficiently identified the trade secrets, England was not the proper forum, and Chinese (not English) law should control the forum analysis.

## Issues

1. Whether Celgard showed a “serious issue to be tried” on breach of confidence and statutory trade-secrets claims at the interlocutory stage despite limited particularization of the alleged trade secrets.
2. Whether the claims fell within the service-out jurisdictional gateways for tortious damage in the jurisdiction and/or injunctions as to acts done or to be done in the jurisdiction.
3. Whether England and Wales was the proper forum for UK-limited relief where the alleged acquisition/use of the confidential information occurred mainly in China and related proceedings existed abroad.
4. Whether English law was appropriately treated as the applicable law for the UK-focused claims when assessing proper forum.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeal dismissed Senior’s appeal and upheld both service out and the interim injunction.
- The Court held Celgard’s evidence and circumstances of the alleged misappropriation were sufficient to establish a serious issue to be tried at the interlocutory stage.
- The Court held the claim fit the relevant gateways because the restrained acts (importing/marketing) would occur in England and the alleged damage (UK business loss) would be sustained in England.
- The Court held England was the proper forum for the UK-only claims, and that English law governing UK market conduct was a significant connecting factor.
- The Court found no basis to interfere with the High Court’s discretionary interim-relief assessment, including maintaining the status quo pending trial.

## Legal Principles

- At the interlocutory stage in trade-secrets/breach-of-confidence litigation, the claimant need not provide trial-level particularization of confidential information if, given technical complexity and secrecy, the evidence still shows a real prospect of success.
- Service out may be permitted where the pleaded tortious harm is sustained in the forum and/or the relief seeks to restrain acts done or to be done within the forum, even if antecedent misconduct occurred abroad.
- A claimant may legitimately confine relief to domestic acts and domestic harm; that case framing can support both jurisdiction and a finding that the forum is appropriate.
- In assessing proper forum, the court may give weight to the forum’s ability to grant and supervise effective injunctive relief directed at domestic importing/marketing, and to the application of domestic law to the domestic conduct at issue.
- Interim injunctive relief may be justified where damages may be inadequate due to difficulty quantifying loss of market position or customer opportunities and where preserving the pre-entry status quo is appropriate.

## Conclusion

The Court of Appeal affirmed that English courts can grant UK-only interim injunctive relief and permit service out in cross-border trade-secrets disputes when the targeted marketing/importation and economic harm are in the UK, even if the alleged misappropriation occurred abroad, and when the claimant shows a non-fanciful case at the interlocutory stage.


Shenzhen Senior Tech. Material Co. v. Celgard, LLC, [2020] EWCA Civ 1293 (Eng.)