TIDMNANO
RNS Number : 2166Z
Nanoco Group PLC
20 May 2021
20 May 2021
NANOCO GROUP PLC
("Nanoco", the "Company" or the "Group")
Litigation Update
Nanoco Group plc (LSE: NANO), a world leader in the development
and manufacture of cadmium-free quantum dots and other specific
nanomaterials emanating from its technology platform, announces an
update on its litigation against Samsung for the alleged wilful
infringement of the Group's IP.
On 17 February 2020, the Group announced that it had filed a
patent infringement lawsuit against various Samsung entities in the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (the
'Court').
As reported previously, Samsung had applied to the Patent Trial
and Appeal Board (the 'PTAB') requesting the institution of inter
partes reviews ('IPRs') of each of the five patents in the case. An
IPR is a standard part of IP litigation and examines the validity
of the patents themselves. It often runs in parallel with the
judicial process.
The PTAB has now announced its decision to institute IPRs over
the five patents. The evidential burden required to be passed in
order to have an IPR granted is relatively low. For each patent,
Samsung needed to show that there was a "reasonable likelihood that
[they] would prevail with respect to at least 1 of the claims
challenged in the petition.(1) " Samsung had submitted a number of
grounds to challenge each claim and some of the patents have more
than 20 asserted claims.
Where the PTAB finds that the evidential test has been met on at
least one ground in one claim in each patent, then all of the
claims in the patent in question are subject to the IPR process.
This includes claims where the PTAB found that Samsung did not pass
the evidential burden. At the end of the IPR process, the PTAB will
rule on each individual claim as opposed to any of the patents as a
whole.
A trial date for the jury hearing into the alleged wilful
infringement of the Group's IP by Samsung has been set for October
2021, though Samsung may now seek (for a second time) to have this
delayed until after the IPR process is complete. An IPR process can
take 12 months to reach a conclusion and this can be followed by
appeals.
Brian Tenner, Chief Executive Officer of Nanoco Group plc,
said:
" We are not surprised that the PTAB has decided to implement
the IPRs in the five patents and our plans included this
eventuality. We note that many of Samsung's individual grounds of
challenge were dismissed against a number of the claims asserted by
Nanoco.
"Our confidence in the robustness and credibility of Nanoco's
patents therefore remains unchanged with respect to the IPR process
and the parallel judicial process, with any potential extension to
the litigation timeframe underpinned by our third party litigation
funding."
(1) 35 US Code 314 (a)
- Ends -
For further information, please contact:
Nanoco Group PLC : +44 (0) 161 603 7900
Brian Tenner, CEO
Liam Gray, Company Secretary
Caroline Watson, Investor Relations Manager
cwatson@nanocotechnologies.com
Peel Hunt:
+44 (0) 20 7418 8900
Edward Knight
Nick Prowting
James Smith
MHP Communications : +44 (0) 203 128 8788
Reg Hoare
Giles Robinson
Pete Lambie
nanoco@mhpc.com
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This announcement (including information incorporated by
reference in this announcement), and other information published by
Nanoco may contain statements about Nanoco that are or may be
deemed to be forward looking statements. Such statements are
prospective in nature. All statements other than historical
statements of facts may be forward looking statements. Without
limitation, statements containing the words "targets", "plans",
"believes", "expects", "aims", "intends", "will", "may",
"anticipates", "estimates", "projects" or "considers" or other
similar words may be forward looking statements.
Forward looking statements inherently contain risks and
uncertainties as they relate to events or circumstances in the
future. Important factors such as business or economic cycles, the
terms and conditions of Nanoco's financing arrangements, tax rates,
or increased competition may cause Nanoco's actual financial
results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any
forward looking statements. Due to such uncertainties and risks,
readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward
looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Nanoco
disclaims any obligation to update any forward looking or other
statements contained herein, except as required by applicable
law.
Notes for editors:
About Nanoco Group plc
Nanoco (LSE: NANO) harnesses the power of nano-materials.
Nano-materials are materials with dimensions typically in the range
1 - 100 nm. Nano-materials have a range of useful properties,
including optical and electronic. Quantum dots are a subclass of
nano-material that have size-dependent optical and electronic
properties. The Group produces quantum dots and other
nano-materials. Within the sphere of quantum dots, the Group
exploits different characteristics of the quantum dots to target
different performance criteria that are attractive to specific
markets or end-user applications such as the Display, Sensor and
Electronics markets. An interesting property of quantum dots is
their absorption spectrum. Nanoco's HEATWAVE(TM) quantum dots can
be tuned to absorb light at different wavelengths across the
near-infrared spectrum, rendering them useful for applications
including image sensors. Another interesting property of quantum
dots is photoluminescence: the emission of longer wavelength light
upon excitation by light of a shorter wavelength. The colour of
light emitted depends on the particle size. Nanoco's CFQD(R)
quantum dots are free of cadmium and other toxic heavy metals, and
can be tuned to emit light at different wavelengths across the
visible and infrared spectrum, rendering them useful for a wide
range of applications including displays, lighting and biological
imaging.
Nanoco was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Manchester,
UK, with a US subsidiary, Nanoco Inc., in Concord, MA. Nanoco
continues to build out a world-class, patent-protected IP portfolio
generated both by its own innovation engine, as well as through
acquisition.
Nanoco is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange
and trades under the ticker symbol NANO. For further information
please visit: www.nanocotechnologies.com .
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