The appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, said today that a trial judge abused his discretion and prejudiced South Korea-based Kolon Industries in 2011 when he granted a pretrial motion by DuPont.
The court said that in doing so, the judge excluded evidence material to Kolon's defense.
The jury later found that Kolon had misappropriated 149 DuPont trade secrets involving aramid fiber technology.
The appeals court sent the case back to district court in Virginia for further proceedings under a different trial judge.