[미디어SR 정혜원 기자] SK Innovation’s board of directors pointed out that the company should have a compliance (compliance monitoring) system that exceeds global standards in relation to the lawsuit for infringing trade secrets of rechargeable batteries.
In relation to the lawsuit for infringement of trade secrets for rechargeable batteries (electric vehicle batteries) filed by LG Energy Solutions against SK Innovation, ITC decided on the 10th of last month (U.S. local time) that SK Innovation would ban imports from imports into the U.S. for 10 years. There is a bar.
SK Innovation announced on the 11th that the board of directors of the company held an expanded audit committee the day before to in-depth review the final ITC decision.
The expanded audit committee was attended by Kim Jong-hoon, chairman of the board of directors and all outside directors, and the board of directors has the power to make final decisions on major management issues of SK Innovation.
It is known that the board of directors reviewed SK Innovation’s responses during the ITC litigation process at the meeting, and strongly accused him of poorly responding to US judicial proceedings due to its lack of experience in global disputes.
CEO Woo-Seok Choi of SK Innovation’s Board of Directors said, “It is very regrettable that SK Innovation lost its business because we did not have the opportunity to defend against the infringement of trade secrets, which is the essence of the lawsuit, and that the US judicial process was insufficient.” At this point, it is urgent and critical to strengthen the compliance system beyond global standards.”
The ITC pointed out that SK’s attempts to delete documents and conceal documents were made under flagrant bad faith, and put a critical evaluation of this as’corporate culture’ in the ruling.
The board of directors also made an order to reorganize the global lawsuit response system internally by using this lawsuit as a’anti-myeon teacher’, and to appoint an external global expert to establish a complete compliance monitoring system. It is interpreted with the intention of preparing supplementary measures to prevent recurrence of similar situations.
In addition, the board of directors of SK Innovation also reviewed the terms of negotiations before the battery litigation. The Audit Committee, an audit organization within the board of directors, said, “We will take a closer look at the requirements of our competitors at the board level.” It is known that it has revealed its position. At the level of the board of directors, a clear criterion for the terms of the’before battery litigation’ agreement was presented.
This is also interpreted to mean that if the final agreement is difficult, it will endure the withdrawal of the US battery market. With US President Joe Biden’s deadline for review of the final ITC decision for about a month, the difference between the two companies’ indemnities is widening considerably.
An official from SK Innovation told Media SR, “The board of directors has received a report on the progress of the lawsuit, but through this meeting, the board of directors has also reviewed the terms of agreement and negotiations presented to LG after the final ITC ruling.” “The level of significantly lowering the competitiveness of the business” mentioned above is expected to be related to the amount of money.”
LG Energy Solutions is currently claiming a settlement of several trillion won, taking into account future losses due to infringement of trade secrets. However, SK Innovation is in a position that a settlement amount of several hundred billion won is appropriate.
The difference in perspective between the two sides is unlikely to be narrowed even under the review of the SK board, and it remains unclear whether the final agreement before the battery litigation lasted for two years.
Recently, LG Energy Solutions said, “If SK is sincerely making a proposal that can be discussed at the negotiating table and negotiating it, it will be very flexible in negotiating the settlement method.” It is interpreted that it is possible to pay in installments, but in fact, it is difficult to adjust the level of the requested settlement amount.
The board of directors of SK Innovation decided to visit sites such as Daedeok Battery Research Institute in person at an early date in order to clear up the position related to the ITC litigation and come up with a fundamental improvement plan.