Litigation Update

RNS Number : 7448L

Nanoco Group PLC

17 May 2022

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    17 May 2022

Nanoco Group PLC

( " Nanoco, the " Group", or the " Company")

Litigation Update - PTAB uphold all 47 Nanoco patent claims

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 a significant update to its litigation against Samsung for the willful infringement of the Group's IP.

The US Patent Trial and Appeal Board ('PTAB') has ruled in favour of Nanoco in respect of all 47 claims in the five patents that were subject to inter partes review (IPRs) in the case.

As previously announced, Samsung had applied to the PTAB requesting the institution of 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. In May 2021, PTAB announced its decision to institute IPRs over the five patents.

The Board and its advisers are reviewing the detailed ruling by the PTAB with respect to all of the claims and patents. While Samsung can be expected to appeal the final PTAB decisions, the Company believes it is likely that the stay on the court process will now be lifted at the hearing scheduled for 2 June 2022 in the Eastern District of Texas. If the stay is lifted, pre-trial motions will then be considered by the judge and the Company expects a revised trial date to be scheduled for the fourth quarter of calendar year 2022.

Brian Tenner, Chief Executive Officer of Nanoco Group plc, said:

" The strength of Nanoco's case has been amply demonstrated by the PTAB finding in favour of every single one of the 47 claims under the five patents. T he question of the validity of our intellectual property has now been very clearly resolved in favour of Nanoco.

"As a result, the trial can now focus on the issue of Samsung's alleged wilful infringement and the appropriate level of damages.

"Nanoco has overcome the first of two major hurdles in the litigation, the validity of our IP. As a result, our confidence in this case has increased further. While there is still much to be done, successfully overcoming this hurdle allows a straight run in to a trial later in 2022. A favourable trial outcome should then deliver a substantial inflection point for Nanoco's prospects and shareholder value."

- Ends -

For further information, please contact:

Nanoco Group PLC :

Brian Tenner, CEO                                                                                                                [phone]

Liam Gray, CFO & Company Secretary  [phone]

Peel Hunt:

Edward Knight  [phone]

James Smith

MHP Communications :                                                                                                      [phone]

Reg Hoare

Pete Lambie

Charlie Protheroe

[e-mail] 

The person responsible for arranging for the release of this announcement on behalf of Nanoco is Liam Gray, Company Secretary.

MAR

This Announcement contains inside information for the purposes of article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (withdrawal) Act 2018.  Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information will be considered to be in the public domain.

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™ 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®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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