Celgard, LLC (Celgard), a subsidiary of Polypore International, LP (Polypore), filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Shenzhen Senior Technology Material Co., Ltd. (Senior) and its U.S. Research Institute of Fremont, California, seller of various battery separators for lithium batteries. Specifically, Celgard is pursuing claims against Senior for selling infringing ceramic coated and polypropylene separators made by Senior in Shenzhen, China, and for misappropriating Celgard’s trade secrets and confidential information.

The complaint alleges that Senior has infringed Celgard’s U.S. Patent RE47,520 (formerly U.S. Patent 6,432,586) and U.S. Patent 6,692,867. The ‘520 Patent covers innovative ceramic coated separators first developed by Celgard for high-energy rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. The ‘867 Patent covers innovative polypropylene separators.  The suit seeks an injunction preventing Senior from selling the infringing separators and from using Celgard’s trade secrets and confidential information and seeks compensation for damages.

Recently, Celgard successfully settled a lawsuit against Targray International of Canada (Targray). The suit was filed to stop Targray from selling ceramic coated and polypropylene separators made by Senior that infringe Celgard’s ‘520 and ‘867 Patents. See Release.

Additionally, Celgard successfully settled two suits against MTI Corporation of California (MTI) in June. The first was a patent suit under Celgard’s ‘586 Patent seeking relief from MTI for selling infringing ceramic coated battery separators and the second was a trademark suit seeking relief from MTI for selling counterfeit battery separators with the Celgard® registered trademark. See Release.

The successful outcome of the Targray and MTI cases further solidifies the integrity of Celgard’s intellectual property (IP) regarding coated and uncoated separators for lithium-ion batteries. Celgard will continue to prevent the unfair exploitation of its technology and IP to safeguard its assets and customers.

About Celgard and Polypore

Celgard specializes in coated and uncoated dry-process microporous membranes used as separators that are a major component of lithium-ion batteries. Celgard’s battery separator technology is important to the performance of lithium-ion batteries for electric drive vehicles, energy storage systems and other applications.

Celgard, LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Polypore International, LP, an Asahi Kasei Company.

Polypore is a global company with facilities in nine countries specializing in microporous membranes used in electric and nonelectric vehicles, energy storage systems and specialty applications. Visit www.celgard.com and www.polypore.com.

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