Come on mate. The impression that has been peddled here is that...

Come on mate. The impression that has been peddled here is that Pablo/Puna own the IP to the lithium recovery processes that he and Vijay Mertah invented while working for FMC. The simple fact is that he doesn't own that IP, and nor does Vijay. It doesn't take away form the work he's done to date with AGY, it's just stating facts.

Using your example, Cadbury had to apply for the trademark for the purple wrapper, thereby registering it as intellectual property. So the difference is the application of the patent, which in our case belongs to FMC/Livent (as far as I can see anyway).

Trade secrets are one thing, intellectual property is another. In this case you would hope that the process that is being developed by Pablo/Puna for AGY is different enough to that originally patented by FMC, otherwise what's stopping Livent/Allkem/Newco from taking legal action to seek damages or royalties down the track?