MUNICH, November 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

H.C. Starck, one of the leading manufacturers of technology metals and advanced ceramics, has reached a settlement agreement in an ongoing patent infringement complaint with Ningxia Orient Tantalum Industry Co., Ltd.. The settlement is highly favorable for H.C. Starck, thus constituting a significant milestone on the company's route to protect its intellectual property for the manufacturing of high-performance technology metal products.

The subject of the lawsuit was the infringement of a patent held by H.C. Starck relating to high capacitance tantalum powders and sintered anodes that are manufactured from these powders. These materials are used in the electronic industry to make capacitors for state-of-the-art, high-performance electronic devices like smartphones and tablet PCs. "H.C. Starck is devoting significant time and resources in developing high capacitance tantalum powders to enable modern technologies and to ensure competitiveness in a fast-moving market field," said Dr. Andreas Meier, CEO and President of the H.C. Starck Group. "To make sure these efforts are well invested, we will continue to protect our intellectual property and prohibit its illegitimate exploitation."

H.C. Starck filed its first patents for technology metals over 60 years ago. Today, the group holds almost 900 issued patents worldwide as well as more than 400 pending patent applications, and invests approximately 3 percent of its annual revenue in research and development. H.C. Starck pursues a consistent strategy of protecting its intellectual property and will continue to enforce its claims to also guard the interests of its customers.

More information about H.C. Starck is available at http://www.hcstarck.com/press.

Contact:
Ulrike Reich
Director Group Communications
+49-89-500-942-155

SOURCE H.C. Starck GmbH