Securities code: Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture Co.Ltd(000998) securities abbreviation: Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture Co.Ltd(000998) Announcement No.: 202215 Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture Co.Ltd(000998)
Announcement on litigation involving wholly-owned subsidiaries
The company and all members of the board of directors guarantee that the contents of the announcement are true, accurate and complete without false records, misleading statements or major omissions.
Special tips:
1. The litigation stage of the case: the court has not yet heard the case.
2. The party status of the listed company: Hunan Longping, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, is the defendant (counterclaim plaintiff). 3. Amount involved: 302.2 million yuan.
4. Impact on the profits and losses of listed companies: since the case has not yet been heard, it is impossible to judge the impact of this lawsuit on the company’s profits in the current period or after the period.
5. The information disclosure media designated by the company are China Securities News, Shanghai Securities News, securities times and cninfo（ http://www.cn.info.com.cn. ）, the information released by the company is subject to the announcement disclosed in the above designated information disclosure media. Please pay attention to the investment risks.
On April 11, 2022, Hunan Longping Seed Industry Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Hunan Longping”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yuan Longping Agricultural High Tech Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “the company” and ” Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture Co.Ltd(000998) “), received the civil ruling [(2022) wanminzhi No. 89] served by Anhui Higher People’s court, and Winall Hi-Tech Seed Co.Ltd(300087) (hereinafter referred to as ” Winall Hi-Tech Seed Co.Ltd(300087) “) filed a lawsuit against Hunan Longping on the ground of infringing on the right of new plant varieties. The lawsuit based on Winall Hi-Tech Seed Co.Ltd(300087) has seriously infringed the variety license of Hunan Longping, so Hunan Longping filed a counterclaim. At present, the higher people’s Court of Anhui Province has agreed to upgrade its jurisdiction and made a ruling that the case should be tried by it. The relevant information is hereby announced as follows:
1、 Basic information about the case
In 2016, the company and Winall Hi-Tech Seed Co.Ltd(300087) signed the matching agreement on using the conventional rice variety “Wushan silk seedling” (hereinafter referred to as the “agreement”), in which Winall Hi-Tech Seed Co.Ltd(300087) authorized the company and its subsidiaries to use the “Wushan silk seedling” to test and match with the sterile rice lines with intellectual property rights of the company and its subsidiaries. Based on the agreement, the company has been actively performing the agreement, and Hunan Longping, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, independently prepared new hybrid rice varieties. In July 2021, Winall Hi-Tech Seed Co.Ltd(300087) filed a lawsuit against Hunan Longping on the ground that Hunan Longping infringed on the right of new plant varieties, and demanded that: (1) the defendant Hunan Longping immediately stopped producing and breeding the breeding materials of “Wushan silk seedling” and immediately stopped using the breeding materials of “Wushan silk seedling” to produce 12 hybrid rice varieties “Longyou 534”; (2) The defendant treated the stored and unsold infringing seeds with extinction activity (including the reproductive materials of “Wushan silk seedling” produced and propagated commercially and the reproductive materials of the above 12 hybrid rice varieties produced by using the reproductive materials of “Wushan silk seedling”); (3) The defendant published a statement in the “farmers’ daily” and “China seed industry” for no less than 10 consecutive days, clarifying the infringement facts and making an apology to the society and the seed industry market; (4) The defendant compensated the plaintiff for the economic loss of 300 million yuan and paid the plaintiff a reasonable fee of 1 million yuan for safeguarding his rights; (5) The defendant shall bear all litigation costs of the case.
Hunan Longping filed a counterclaim request: (1) ordered the defendant Winall Hi-Tech Seed Co.Ltd(300087) to stop infringing on the licensed use right of “Wushan silk seedling” in Hunan Longping; (2) Winall Hi-Tech Seed Co.Ltd(300087) publish announcements on the main pages of Farmers Daily and China Securities News to eliminate the adverse effects of false rights protection announcements and abuse of litigation rights; (3) Winall Hi-Tech Seed Co.Ltd(300087) compensate 1.2 million yuan of reasonable expenses paid by Hunan Longping to stop the infringement of variety license; (4) Winall Hi-Tech Seed Co.Ltd(300087) bear all litigation costs of this case.
After examination, the intermediate people’s Court of Hefei City, Anhui Province held that the case involved professional knowledge such as the R & D and licensing of new plant varieties and the production and sales of approved variety breeding materials. The case was relatively complex and had a significant impact within its jurisdiction. According to Article 38 of the Civil Procedure Law of the people’s Republic of China (amended in 2017), it is reported to the higher people’s Court of Anhui Province for promotion and jurisdiction. The higher people’s Court of Anhui Province held that the case was a dispute over new plant varieties with strong professional and technical nature and had a significant impact on the area under its jurisdiction, so it agreed to upgrade its jurisdiction. 2、 Other undisclosed litigation and arbitration matters
Before this announcement, the undisclosed litigation and arbitration matters of the company and its holding subsidiaries in the last 12 months involved a total amount of 1 Zhejiang Tiantai Xianghe Industrial Co.Ltd(603500) 1 million yuan, accounting for 2.91% of the company’s latest audited net assets attributable to shareholders of listed companies, which did not meet the disclosure standard.
3、 Background note of the case
In 2011, Winall Hi-Tech Seed Co.Ltd(300087) signed an agreement with the Rice Research Institute of Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, paying 2.8 million yuan at one time to obtain its exclusive use right outside Guangdong Province. In 2016, the company and Winall Hi-Tech Seed Co.Ltd(300087) signed the matching agreement on using the conventional rice variety “Wushan silk seedling” (hereinafter referred to as the “agreement”), which agreed that Winall Hi-Tech Seed Co.Ltd(300087) authorized Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture Co.Ltd(000998) (and its subsidiaries) to use the test matching combination of rice sterile lines with intellectual property rights owned by Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture Co.Ltd(000998) (and its subsidiaries), and agreed that the company would pay RMB 1.2 million for each variety approved.
According to the agreement, the company used “Wushan silk seedling” and its own parents to develop and match groups, and approved 15 new hybrid rice varieties (provincial or national level) such as “Longyou 534” from June 2016 to November 2020. For the approved varieties, the company shall designate subsidiaries to reproduce, produce, process and sell them. According to the agreement, the company has paid the full amount of the use fee of Winall Hi-Tech Seed Co.Ltd(300087) “Wushan silk seedling” for 15 approved varieties (including deposit and notarization). The company abided by the agreement and fully fulfilled its obligations under the agreement.
The company has always followed the principle of law-abiding operation, respected and actively participated in the actions related to intellectual property protection, and will actively respond to the lawsuit in accordance with relevant legal procedures.
4、 Possible impact of litigation and arbitration in this announcement on the company’s profits in the current period or after the period
In view of the fact that the above-mentioned cases have not been heard in court, there is uncertainty about their impact on the company’s profits in the current period or after the period. The company will timely perform the obligation of information disclosure on the progress of litigation matters.
5、 Filing documents
1. The civil ruling served by the higher people’s Court of Anhui Province.
2. The matching agreement on using the conventional rice variety “Wushan silk seedling” signed by the company and Winall Hi-Tech Seed Co.Ltd(300087) . It is hereby announced
Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture Co.Ltd(000998) board of directors April 13, 2002
