3M Sues Sony, Matsushita, Others Over Patent Infringement

10:50 PM EST March 7, 2007

HONG KONG -(Dow Jones)- 3M Co. (MMM) has sued a number of consumer electronics manufacturers including Sony Corp. (SNE) Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (MC), Hitachi Ltd. (HIT) and Lenovo Group Ltd. (0992.HK), alleging patent infringements related to materials used in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.
In a suit filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, 3M alleges that the companies sold and imported into the U.S. lithium-ion batteries that violate one or more of its patents. It is seeking unspecified damages.
"3M has suffered and will continue to suffer, irreparable injury and damages," the company said in its complaint.
3M makes cathode materials for use in lithium-ion batteries, which are widely used in laptop computers.
The market for lithium-ion batteries is growing as they are being increasingly adopted in laptop computers and electronic handheld devices, but the industry has also been hurt by concerns about these batteries overheating and posing a fire hazard.
Last year, almost every major laptop maker including Dell Inc., Apple Inc. and Lenovo announced recalls of Sony-made lithium-ion batteries at the risk of them overheating and catching fire.
3M also named Illinois-based CDW Corp., Indianapolis-based Batteries Com LLC and California-based Total Micro Technologies Inc. in its lawsuit filed March 7.
Representatives at Sony and Hitachi said they had no comment.
A Matsushita spokesman said the company hasn't received a letter of complaint from 3M and therefore has no comment.
A Lenovo spokeswoman said the company didn't have immediate information about the lawsuit.