US ITC Sides with SK Innovation in Battery Patent Suit Filed by LG Energy Solution

The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled in favor of SK Innovation in an electric vehicle (EV) battery patent infringement suit filed by LG Energy Solution in 2019.

The US ITC said in an initial determination on March 31 (local time) that SK Innovation did not infringe LG Energy Solution’s patents related to EV batteries such as battery separators.

LG Energy Solution (at the time, LG Chem) filed the lawsuit with ITC in September 2019, claiming that SK Innovation infringed its four patents, including three U.S. patents and one U.S. patent for cathode materials.

This is a case derived from a lawsuit filed by LG Energy Solution against SK Innovation for misappropriating its battery trade secrets. The ITC sided with LG Energy Solution in this suit.

ITC has acknowledged the validity of the SRS 517 patent related to separator coating, but decided that SK did not infringe the patent. ITC did not recognize the validity of the other three patents.

As SK Innovation succeeds in defending itself in this patent infringement case, attention is focused on whether it will affect the negotiations between the two companies on compensation for trade secret infringement.

LG Energy Solution planned to lead the negotiations on its own terms if it wins the patent infringement lawsuit following the previous trade secret infringement case.

SK Innovation welcomed the ITC's decision, saying, "Since we have developed excellent battery technology for a long time, we expected that ITC will make a  decision in our favor. This initial determination is meaningful as it recognizes SK Innovation's independent battery technology."

Lim Soo-gil, head of SK Innovation's Value Creation Center, said, "SK battery technology has been accumulated since the mid-1980s, and has the best competitiveness in terms of safety from fire, charging amount and time. We will make further efforts to develop technology and create an industrial ecosystem."

Meanwhile, an LG Energy Solution official said, "We have to watch the final determination to come."