The companies expect this collaborative agreement will give them greater freedom to develop high-performance materials and expand the overall market for OLED materials
Merck has announced that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with Idemitsu Kosan (Idemitsu) that allows each party to use the other party's OLED material-related patents in certain areas.
According to the announcement in the fast-expanding OLED market, Merck and Idemitsu are both "leading" OLED material companies and have continued to supply a variety of highperformance OLED materials to customers. Each company has a long history of developing OLED materials and owns a variety of patents related to OLED materials.
Under this collaborative relationship, each company will be allowed to develop, manufacture and sell OLED materials in certain areas of the other company's material-related patents under specified conditions.
This will help to accelerate the generation of new high-performance materials (higher efficiency, longer life-time, etc.), by allowing both parties to exploit undeveloped areas of OLED materials with different knowledge and experience.
The companies expect to continue discussions to expand the collaboration to include other areas in the future.
About Merck
Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life – from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2015, Merck generated sales of € 12.85 billion in 66 countries.
Founded in 1668, Merck is the world’s oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, holds the global rights to the Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.
Source: Merck
About Idemitsu Kosan
The Idemitsu Group carries out core business centered on fuel oils and basic chemicals on a global asis.
In addition, it pursues a diverse range of businesses, including functional materials businesses that
encompass lubricants and performance chemicals as well as such electronic materials as OLED. These
businesses have advanced the core technologies cultivated in the core businesses. Also, the Group
undertakes resource businesses that include oil exploration and production as well as coal, uranium and geothermal resource development.
Idemitsu had sales of about ¥3,570 billion in FY2015 and 9,203
employees as of the end of the FY. Idemitsu shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Tokyo (5019).
Source: Idemitsu Kosan
