DuPont Sues Over Alleged Trade Secret Theft of Titanium Technology

Bloomberg is reporting that DuPont has sued USA Performance Technologies and Performance Group Inc. and two of those companies' employees for allegedly misappropriating confidential specifications for its titanium pigment manufacturing process.

The two defendant companies, both based in Oakland, California, and two of its employees have, or are in the process of providing DuPont’s trade secrets to DuPont’s competitors in China, according to a complaint DuPont said was filed in federal court in California.

The manufacturing process at the company’s titanium pigment plant in Kuan Yin, Taiwan, “has become the target of misappropriation,” the complaint says. DuPont’s trade secret information was found on the company computer of one of the defendants, the lawsuit said.

The suit seeks an injunction requiring return of its trade secret information, prohibiting use of its proprietary information and unspecified damages, DuPont said in a statement.

DuPont is the world’s largest manufacturer of titanium dioxide, a white pigment commonly used in coatings, plastics and paper.