Federal court rules in DuPont’s favor, bars Kolon from Kevlar-like material for 20 years

18-Sep-12

A federal court has ruled in DuPont’s favor, barring South Korea’s Kolon Industries from making a synthetic fiber that competes against its Kevlar materials for 20 years. The decision, made in a Richmond, VA federal courtroom, followed Kolon’s request to put a permanent injunction on hold. DuPont first sued Kolon in 2009, accusing it of misusing proprietary information obtained from a former DuPont employee working at Kolon. That employee pled guilt to theft of trade secrets in 2010. In September 2011, a Richmond, VA-based federal jury ordered Kolon to pay DuPont US$919 million for stealing trade secrets relating to Kevlar. Kolon has until October 1 to remove and return DuPont’s trade secrets or face contempt proceedings.