Beijing, China 8/22/17—In a civil lawsuit filed in China, Agilent Technologies alleges that Shanghai Echrom Electronic Technology and former Agilent employees infringed trade secrets related to its GC technology. According to Agilent, the complaint alleges that after leaving Agilent, the former employees started Echrom and used Agilent trade secrets to produce similar technology. Agilent is seeking to stop the use of its proprietary technology as well as compensation for its losses. “As a leading provider of scientific instruments and solutions for most of the world’s 265,000 analytical laboratories, our intellectual property is at the core of our company’s success,” commented Michael Tang, Agilent’s senior vice president and general counsel. “We are encouraged by the enactment of China’s 2013 National Intellectual Property Strategy that protects the rights of all companies to pursue protection of intellectual property through China’s judicial system.”

In fiscal year 2016, China accounted for about 20% of Agilent’s sales, or $821 milion. Hewlett-Packard (now Agilent) established a joint venture in China in 1985. Recent foreign company plaintiffs that have won IP cases in Chinese courts include Apple, BMW and New Balance.