Company guards its secrets for water filtration technology

Zenon Environmental, the Oakville, Ontario manufacturer of membrane water filtration systems, has lost its court attempt to prevent another company from servicing its equipment for the Canadian Department of National Defence.
In December Zenon filed for an injunction to stop the military from releasing technical information on ten of its water purification units to a company Seprotech of Ottawa. Seprotech had recently won the contract to service the Zenon units, which are used on overseas missions. Zenon is concerned about companies acquiring proprietary information on the equipment.
CBC reported on February 15 that although Seprotech will be servicing the units, they will not be allowed to photocopy any documents, all technical manuals will be kept in a vault on government property, and only information needed to service the units will be released.
Zenon is also bringing legal action against US Filter Corporation, alleging they have infringed its patent for an apparatus for withdrawing permeate using an immersed hollow fibre membrane.