National specialized and innovative “Little Giants” are being claimed for 1.4 billion yuan: Shenzhen “Yan Yi” is embroiled in an infringement dispute

Ask AI · How did Shenzhen Yanyi, a graduate student, get involved in an infringement dispute over specialized and innovative small giants?

Jiemian News Reporter | Gao Jing

The announcement from “Lithium Hexafluorophosphate Liquid Production Leader” Tianci Materials ( 002709.SZ) once again brought a commercial secret infringement dispute into the spotlight, with the involved amount reaching 1.47B yuan.

On the evening of April 1, Tianci Materials announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Jiujiang Tianci High-tech Materials Co., Ltd. ( hereinafter referred to as Jiujiang Tianci ), filed a civil lawsuit with the Guangdong Higher People’s Court over a commercial secret infringement dispute, which has recently been accepted for filing.

The defendants include Shenzhen Yanyi New Materials Co., Ltd. ( hereinafter referred to as Shenzhen Yanyi ), its wholly owned subsidiary Zhejiang Yanyi New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. ( hereinafter Zhejiang Yanyi ), and 12 other entities including Yue Min, the actual controller of Shenzhen Yanyi. The case involves an expected economic loss of 1.47B yuan and legal fees paid for rights protection.

Tianci Materials alleges that the defendants—Shenzhen Yanyi, Zhejiang Yanyi, Yue Min, and others—obtained the plaintiff’s commercial secrets through improper means from Li Sheng, the former chief engineer of Jiujiang Tianci, and used them in Zhejiang Yanyi’s related projects. They also disclosed Jiujiang Tianci’s commercial secrets to the public through patent applications and other means.

Image source: Tianci Materials announcement

The specific commercial secrets refer to the industrialization technology for producing liquid lithium hexafluorophosphate and liquid bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide lithium. Both products are lithium salts used as electrolytes in lithium-ion batteries, and currently, the market mainly features solid-state forms.

Last year, Tianci Materials cited certifications from the China Chemical and Physical Power Industry Association and the China Fluorosilicone Organic Materials Industry Association, stating that as of October 12, 2023, Tianci Materials was the only enterprise nationwide capable of industrially producing liquid lithium hexafluorophosphate and liquid