SHENZHEN: Chinese building materials provider Yekalon Industry Inc says it will take legal action "at any cost" to defend its self-developed locking technology for laminate and wood floorings.

The private company, based in the southern boom city adjacent to Hong Kong, was charged by its much stronger competitor Unilin, a subsidiary of the US-listed Mohawk and located in Belgium, with patent infringement at a world fair in Germany in January.

"We have hired top-notch lawyers in Germany and will appear at the court of Hamburg on Wednesday," said Wilson He Yixin, chairman of Yekalon. "We will never surrender to these groundless allegations."