Michigan alternative energy firm to capitalize on patent settlement
By John Gallagher
Aug 12, 2004 (Detroit Free Press - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News via COMTEX) --
Fresh from a favorable settlement in a patent dispute, Energy Conversion Devices Inc., the Rochester Hills alternative energy company, plans to announce today how it will take advantage of its new-found fortune.
ECD Chairman Robert Stempel, the former General Motors Corp. chairman, plans to hold a media conference today to talk about a business restructuring stemming from the recent settlement in the patent case. Under the terms announced a month ago, ECD is to share in a $30-million settlement of a patent-infringement suit in federal court stemming from the use of its nickel metal hydride batteries.
Under that deal, Energy Conversion and its subsidiary, Ovonic Battery Co. Inc., is to receive a $10-million fee from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Panasonic EV Energy Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.
In addition, Cobasys LLC, a company co-owned by Energy Conversion and ChevronTexaco Technology Ventures LLC, will receive $20 million, according to documents filed last month with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Upon receipt of the money, Cobasys will pay Ovonic Battery $8 million and ChevronTexaco $8 million as partial reimbursement of legal expenses.
The settlement related to patents on the nickel metal hydride batteries and the use of those batteries in the Toyota Prius. Matsushita and Panasonic supply the high-powered, rechargeable batteries to Toyota.
In March 2001, Ovonic Battery filed a suit in U.S. District Court in Detroit claiming Matsushita's hybrid electric-vehicle batteries and systems infringed on patents Ovonic Battery held.
The settlement was good news for Energy Conversion, which hadn't turned an annual profit since 1996. It has lost a combined $78.9 million over the last four years. ECD stock closed Wednesday at $10.61, down 16 cents.
To see more of the Detroit Free Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
freep.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(c) 2004, Detroit Free Press. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.
News provided by |
