SK Innovation's IPR Petition Rejected
The Patent Tribunal and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office has rejected a petition for inter partes review (IPR) filed by SK Innovation against LG Energy Solutions.
An inter partes review (IPR) is a procedure for challenging the validity of a United States patent before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A petition for inter partes review must allege the invalidity of at least one patented claim in an issued patent.
The patents challenged by SK Innovation are related to LG Energy Solutions’ separator and cathode material technology. LG Energy Solutions filed a patent infringement suit against SK Innovation with the U.S. ITC and the Federal District Court of Delaware in September 2019. In response, SK Innovation asked the PTAB to judge the validity of the patent, but its petition was not accepted. As a result, the PTAB rejected all eight IRP petitions that SK Innovation has filed since May 2020.
The PTAB does not allow an appeal against its rejection of an IPR petition. As a result, SK Innovation can no longer challenge the validity of LG Energy Solutions’ patents on separators and cathode materials.
On the other hand, the PTAB accepted last September an IPR petition filed by LG Energy Solutions against SK Innovation’s battery module patent and has launched a review. The final decision on the case is expected to come out by the second half of 2021.
Meanwhile, the case is separate from a lawsuit between the two companies regarding a violation of battery trade business secrets. ITC is planning to make a final decision on Feb. 10 on the lawsuit. In February 2020, the ITC ruled in favor of LG Energy Solutions by making a default judgment against SK Innovation.