LG Energy Solution Urges ITC Not to Delay Final Ruling
Tension is running high between LG Energy Solutions and SK Innovation as only a week or so is left before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC)'s final ruling on a trade secret infringement lawsuit between the two Korean electric vehicle (EV) battery producers.
SK Innovation has recently submitted to the ITC a statement saying that SK batteries are needed in the United States for supply of safe EV batteries. It referred to a series of fires in EVs loaded with batteries from LG Energy Solutions.
LG Energy Solutions ripped into SK Innovation for the submission of the statement, describing it as a ploy to put off the final ruling, which is scheduled for Dec. 10.
"SK Innovation's recent submission of its opinion is intended to postpone the final ruling," LG Energy Solutions said in a statement submitted to the ITC on Dec. 2 (local time). "The ITC should not extend the final verdict date that has already been postponed twice."
SK Innovation submitted a statement to the ITC on Nov. 25 saying that its U.S. battery business should not be suspended for the sake of public interest of the United States. It pointed to the explosion of electric cars loaded with batteries from LG Energy Solutions. SK Innovation emphasized that its batteries are safe. "Based on the ITC's public interest plan, please take into account the recent EV fires involving LG's batteries," it said. "A ruling to stop SK Innovation's production of EV batteries in the United States will go against U.S. public interest."
LG Energy Solutions pointed out that one of the articles suggested by SK Innovation was about a fire of an electric car that broke out outside the United States more than a year ago. More than half of the articles cited in the statement those about recalls of the Chevrolet Volt EV and Hyundai Motor Kona EV recall were more than one month old, the company added. "If SK Innovation had considered the same issue important to the ITC due to public interest factors, it would have raised the claim earlier," LG Energy Solutions said.
LG Energy Solutions also stressed that authorizes did not come to a conclusion that the fires of electric vehicles were caused by batteries made by LG Energy Solutions.
The ITC already postponed the final ruling twice, and the case has entered a protracted war. Initially, the ITC would reach a final conclusion on Oct. 5, but the spread of the COVID-19 delayed the final ruling to Oct. 26. Afterwards, the ITC postponed the schedule once again and postponed it to Dec. 10.