OVONIX and Harper International Enter Licensing Agreement for Graphitization Furnace
Technology
January 9, 2025
BRISBANE, Australia, Jan. 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NOVONIX Limited (NASDAQ: NVX, ASX: NVX) (“NOVONIX” or the “Company”), a
leading battery materials and technology company, announced today that it has entered into a licensing agreement with its long-time technology
partner, Harper International Corporation (“Harper”), for the rights and use of its continuous, induction-based graphitization furnace technology.
In December 2020, NOVONIX and Harper announced a strategic partnership to develop innovative graphitization furnace technology to be used to
produce synthetic graphite anode material for the lithium-ion battery sector. This partnership provided for commitments from NOVONIX to purchase
from Harper, and from Harper to develop and exclusively supply NOVONIX with proprietary systems for thermal processing material for the battery
anode market.
Alongside this exclusive use agreement, the licensing agreement provides NOVONIX the right to an exclusive license to Harper’s technology on which
its continuous graphitization furnaces operate. Upon making an initial payment within 12 months of the effective date of the agreement, NOVONIX will
have the exclusive license to use the technology to further develop the furnaces used for the thermal production of graphite material for use in the
battery anode market. Upon equipment meeting certain performance objectives, and NOVONIX’s payment of additional licensing fees, the license will
expand to include NOVONIX’s right to build equipment using the licensed technology, either internally or through other permitted sublicensees.
NOVONIX’s Riverside facility, located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is poised to become the first large-scale production site dedicated to
high-performance synthetic graphite for the battery sector in North America. It is slated to begin commercial production later this year with plans to
grow output to 20,000 tonnes per annum to meet current customer commitments. Previously, the Company announced that the U.S. Department of
Energy’s (“DOE”) Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (“MESC”) awarded NOVONIX a US$100 million grant 1 and that it was selected
for a US$103 million investment tax credit2 towards funding the Riverside facility. In December, the Company announced a conditional commitment
from the DOE Loan Programs Office (“LPO”) for a direct loan of up to US$754.8 million to be applied toward partially financing a proposed new
production facility, NOVONIX Enterprise South, also to be located in Chattanooga, Tennessee.3
Key Deal Terms
No later than December 2025, NOVONIX must make an initial payment to gain a license to design and develop the
graphitization furnace technology for its internal use. NOVONIX will own improvements to the technology it makes solely or
jointly with Harper.
Upon NOVONIX’s payment of additional license fees, which must occur no later than two years from the commencement
of the initial license term, the license will expand to include the right to build equipment based on the licensed technology
internally or through approved sublicensees, who may also sell NOVONIX the products manufactured using the licensed
technology.
The license will be exclusive in the field of thermal production of synthetic graphite meeting certain specifications for use in
the battery anode market, with certain limited use exceptions, for up to seven years from the date that all of the additional
license fees have been paid and may be sublicensed to third parties with Harper’s approval.
At the expiration of this seven-year period, NOVONIX will have a perpetual, irrevocable, and non-exclusive license to the
technology for use only by NOVONIX or any sublicensee approved by Harper.
If all of the license fees are not paid within two years of the initial license grant, the license will terminate.
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