Sony is now licensed to use 3M technology in its batteries - Jul. 30, 2007

Sony is now licensed to use 3M technology in its batteries - Jul. 30, 2007

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- 3M Co. said Monday it has reached agreement in patent settlement with Sony Corp. over the technology in a type of battery used in laptop computers and cell phones.

St. Paul, Minn.-based 3M said in a statement that Sony's Sony Electronics unit is now a licensed source of lithium ion batteries containing 3M cathode technology.

Specific terms of the settlement are confidential, 3M said. Sony was not immediately available for comment.

3M said the patent dispute against Sony and other companies was filed in the U.S. District Court for Minnesota and the United States International Trade Commission in March.

The company said it holds patents on cathode materials containing nickel, manganese and cobalt, which the company says are an important technology for current and next generation lithium ion batteries.

Rechargeable lithium ion batteries are found in laptop computers, mobile phones and portable electronic devices, and are increasingly being used in battery-powered hand tools, 3M said.

The company was not immediately available to disclose battery sales figures, but valued the cathode materials market at $700 million a year.

Blogged with Flock

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Panasonic to begin mass-production of long-life Li-ion battery system for solar-powered homes in Europe

Short notes on Open Access, Peer review & (insane) publications

Well-dispersed bi-component-active CoO/CoFe2O4 nanocomposites with tunable performances as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries