John Goodenough, a U of T professor, and Hydro Quebec are both suing A123 for violating their patents:
Goodenough claims in a suit filed in US District Court in Dallas the A123 batteries violate two patents he holds on use of a chemical compound, lithium iron phosphate, as a component of rechargeable batteries.
Hydro-Quebec bought a license to the patents in 1997. But in April, privately-held A123 sued Hydro-Quebec in federal court in Boston after the utility began threatening a lawsuit, asking a judge to declare the patents aren't valid and aren't being infringed anyway.
It's been alleged that the original inventor of the lithium compound that makes the batteries work was Dr. Donald Sadoway, currently the head of the MIT battery department, and that one of his assistants slipped off with some samples and databooks to go form A123.
MIT quietly and SUCCESSFULLY sued A123 Systems for licensing infringement, and the case vanished with a secret OUT OF COURT SETTLEMENT.
Green Nuclear Butterfly Blog: Will The Real A123 Genius Please Stand Up?