KEIMTECH, a company specializing in secondary battery components, issued an official statement on November 10, saying, "There are many discrepancies between the facts and the recent announcement made by the prosecution, and we would like to correct them."
A KEIMTECH representative stated, "Prismatic can and cap components are manufactured according to different design standards for each client. Even if their appearance seems similar, the design methods and structural designs differ, so they cannot be used interchangeably or substituted for one another. This is due to the structural characteristics of the industry, where each battery manufacturer respects each other's intellectual property rights and maintains independent designs. Therefore, it is common industry knowledge that the design technology for prismatic can and cap components cannot be leaked or used as-is, making technology infringement impossible. However, the prosecution's announcement contradicts this industry consensus," he emphasized.
KEIMTECH explained, "Since 2023, we have participated as a secondary partner in Samsung SDI's battery packaging-related cooperation projects, developing and supplying cap assemblies and can packaging materials for prismatic batteries. In the process, we received relevant drawings from Samsung SDI and primary partners as part of our collaborative relationship." The company added, "This process was a legitimate part of our work, and we have already submitted supporting documentation to the prosecution."
The company continued, "For years, design drawings have been customarily shared via work emails among Samsung SDI and its primary and secondary partners. Before this incident, there were no specific standards regarding the scope or use of shared drawings, nor had any issues been raised about this practice. During the prosecution's investigation, both Samsung SDI and the primary partner acknowledged these business practices and even submitted emails to the prosecution stating their intention to discuss improvements going forward."
KEIMTECH argued that, like other partners, it is difficult to accept the prosecution's arbitrary characterization of the sharing of design drawings received during the course of work as equivalent to a typical technology leakage case.
A KEIMTECH representative further explained, "In particular, the cap and can components for Samsung SDI are simply non-exclusive, mass-produced metal parts (the so-called battery container and lid) manufactured using standard processes such as molding, pressing, and washing by various suppliers. They have no direct connection to core battery performance metrics such as energy density. Moreover, these are not in-house manufactured core technologies but outsourced components aimed at minimizing defects and costs. We plan to actively address these points during the upcoming trial."
The company added, "Based on these non-exclusive, simple metal parts, Samsung SDI's global market share for prismatic batteries produced in Korea is only about 2.9% (according to SNE Research, cumulative as of 2025), which is not sufficient to establish global exclusivity. Furthermore, the official determination by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy confirmed that this technology does not qualify as 'national core technology' or 'advanced technology.' The supporting evidence has been submitted to the prosecution, so the legal nature of the technology will need to be clearly determined during the trial."
Finally, the company stated, "During the prosecution's investigation, it was demonstrated that many of the technical documents in question were publicly available through academic papers, patents, conference presentations, or open internet sites such as Alibaba, and thus do not constitute trade secrets. Despite this objective evidence, none of it was reflected in the prosecution's findings or announcements, and we were not given sufficient opportunity to refute each individual item charged. We will exercise our right to defense during the trial to restore the company's reputation, which has been damaged by the prosecution's exaggerated and arbitrary announcements."
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