Why Is A123 Systems Suing Apple? What Else Does It Have To Do

Forbes ^ | February 20, 2015 | By Michael Kanellos

[Swordmaker]

In Silicon Valley, people like to say failure is a badge of honor in the technology business.

If that’s the case, A123 Systems is one of the most accomplished companies in clean technology history.

The battery maker—which has filed a lawsuit against Apple and five former employees over nondisclosure agreements—has a singular history of being on the wrong side of history. They were the Solyndra of clean technology before the real Solyndra swept them off the headlines. (Disclosure: I have always been skeptical about the company, even during the feverish build up to their IPO, but events have shown that the reservations were grounded in fact.)

Spun out of MIT in 2001, A123’s goal was to build safer, more stable versions of lithium ion batteries by replacing the standard lithium cobalt chemistry with a formula based around lithium phosphate. It was a great idea. Researchers and large companies had become increasingly worried about the future of lithium cobalt batteries. Consumers demanded more power for their gadgets. Cranking up the energy density of lithium cobalt batteries, however, increased the risk of electrical shortages and “runaway thermal reactions.”

[Swordmaker]

This story claims to explain why A123 is suing Apple. . . but is only a recounting of A123's history and never even mentions the Apple lawsuit reason. — PING!

Apple Headline for Clicks Ping!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[Darksheare]

http://freerepublic.com/tag/a123/index?tab=articles
A123 related keyword.
They were bought by a chinese firm in ‘13.

[Unrepentant VN Vet]

Got one answer for why the “never even mentions the Apple lawsuit reason”, after reading through the analysis that immediately followed the story/editorial/whatever:

A123 is losing money now and has lost it ever since they started, they’ve got a business plan that sucks (the analysis took most of nine pages to tiptoe around it, but “suck” was between every line of type), one of their primary sources of revenue is g’ment grants (you may read that as kickbacks for political support if you’re so inclined) and calling them a POOR investment risk seemed to me to be an act of charity bordering on damn dumb. Only reason A123 has for going after Apple is that Apple’s pockets are the deepest around and A123 wants some to keep their faces out of the dirt.

It’s just Grand Larceny by litigation...or maybe only threatened litigation, if they’re better at court shopping than they are at running a business.