Polypore International and Sumitomo Chemical have entered into a Settlement and License Agreement which ends outstanding litigation between the two companies.

Last February, Charlotte-based Polypore’s Celgard unit filed a patent-infringement suit against Sumitomo over Celgard’s lithium-ion battery separators, which are designed to prevent short circuits and limit safety problems from overheating.

Under the new License Agreement, Sumitomo Chemical has licensed Polypore’s intellectual property related to the coating separators.

“This agreement confirms the integrity of our intellectual property around ceramic coating of separators for lithium-ion batteries,” said Robert Toth, President and CEO of Polypore. “In addition to the financial consideration of the licensing arrangement, we are pleased that this agreement establishes the opportunity for Polypore and Sumitomo to work together to address growing market needs, which we expect to benefit both companies. As interest in coated separator solutions continues to grow, we believe that the combined strength of our intellectual property, Sumitomo’s technical expertise in coating and the exceptional performance characteristics of our separator material create an attractive solution for meeting the growth needs of existing and future customers.”

Source: Polypore, Green Car Congress, Bloomberg