Memcor Ltd. commences patent infringement suit against Norit Membraan Technologie BV

WIRKSWORTH, England, Oct. 26, 2001 — Memcor Limited today announced that it has started patent infringement proceedings against Norit Membraan Technologie BV (Norit) of Hengelo, The Netherlands.

The suit, filed in the Patents Court of the Central London County, alleges that Norit has infringed Memcor's European Patent number 0666774, which relates to a membrane integrity testing method.

"The patented testing method is important and extremely valuable to our membrane technology," said Brian Birkenhead, Technical Director for Memcor Limited. "We commit significant resources to our worldwide research and development efforts to maintain our technological leadership in the water treatment market. We will continue to defend our intellectual property rights."

The infringement proceedings relate to a patented testing method that verifies membrane system integrity. The water displacement test allows the operator to monitor the performance of the membrane to detect membrane system defects or failures within the membranes. Membrane filters are increasingly being used at municipal drinking water plants to remove microorganisms from water.

Memcor Limited is a subsidiary of Vivendi Water, the global provider of commercial, industrial, municipal and residential water and wastewater treatment systems, products and services, with operations in more than 100 countries. Together, Vivendi Water, Onyx (solid waste and industrial services), Dalkia (energy management), and Connex (transportation and logistics) comprise Vivendi Environnement, the largest environmental services company in the world with annual revenues of more than $23 billion.