SI Group Files a Complaint with the International Trade Commission

SCHENECTADY, N.Y., May 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- SI Group, Inc., a leading global manufacturer of chemical intermediates, announced today that on May 21, 2012 the company filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC) requesting an investigation of Sino Legend (Zhangjiagang) Chemical Co., Ltd., Red Avenue Chemical Co. Ltd., and certain affiliates and representatives of those companies. SI Group is asking the ITC to grant, among other things, an order excluding from entry into the United States all rubber resins, including tackifiers, manufactured using SI Group trade secrets. This action was prompted in part by Sino Legend's recent importation of tackifier resins into the United States, and by recent statements in the media from both Sino Legend and Red Avenue confirming their intention to ramp up U.S. tackifier imports in 2012.

The ITC complaint is SI Group's latest step in an ongoing effort to halt the alleged misappropriation of SI Group manufacturing trade secrets. Sino Legend (Zhangjiagang) Chemical Co., Ltd., a Chinese company that was newly established in 2006, hired away the plant manager of SI Group's Shanghai manufacturing plant in 2007. In February 2010, SI Group China filed a lawsuit in Shanghai, which is continuing at this time, alleging that Sino Legend has illegally taken SI Group trade secrets, and is using them to manufacture and sell rubber resins in competition with SI Group's proprietary resin products. A judicially authorized technology verification center, which is recognized by the administrative authority of justice of the People's Republic of China and hired directly by the Shanghai Public Security Bureau Economic Criminal Investigation General Unit, has confirmed the confidential nature of SI Group's technology and the similarities between SI Group and Sino Legend product offerings, as well as the similarities in the manufacturing processes and equipment utilized by both companies.

SI Group will continue to pursue all available options for protecting our intellectual property in China, the United States, and in other countries in which we operate.

About SI Group

SI Group is a family-owned company founded in 1906 and headquartered in Schenectady, New York.  A leading global developer and manufacturer of phenolic resins, alkylphenolic resins, alkylated phenols and other chemical intermediates, SI Group operates approximately 20 facilities in 10 countries around the world.  For more information about SI Group, visit www.siigroup.com.

Contact:

William A. Scheffer
Vice President, North America
SI Group, Inc.
518-347-4426
[email protected]

SOURCE SI Group, Inc.