In exchange for certain payments, the agreement provides that Bayer MaterialScience will be able to sell its Baytubes® carbon nanotubes for use within a defined field under Hyperion’s extensive patent portfolio.
The license agreement will help Bayer to continue to grow its position as one of the world’s leading carbon nanotube suppliers by providing its customers access to additional applications for its carbon nanotube based products.
The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Bayer MaterialScience's Baytubes® carbon nanotubes can be used as additives in materials such as plastics and metal. The addition of Baytubes increases the stiffness and resilience of composites and hence their mechanical strength. This property is already being exploited in the manufacture of sports equipment such as surfboards and skis made of epoxy resin composite.
Hyperion, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, has been Hyperion has been manufacturing and marketing its FIBRIL™ carbon nanotubes for a wide range of applications since 1983. Hyperion currently holds hundreds of issued patents and patent applications covering the production and use of carbon nanotubes.
"This license with Bayer MaterialScience will further leverage Hyperion’s broad patent portfolio and capitalise on the ever increasing demand for carbon nanotubes," says David M. Wohlstadter, Hyperion’s Vice President of Business Development. "We feel Bayer MaterialScience is well positioned to serve and help increase this demand, while Hyperion remains committed to expanding its own sales and providing its customers with the highest quality carbon nanotube based products."