LG claims patent infringement and sues… Derived from infringement of trade secrets
[김토일 제작] illustration
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Chul-seon = LG Energy Solutions is SK Innovation[096770]The first judgment on the battery patent infringement case filed against the International Trade Commission (ITC) is expected to come out soon.
It is predicted that if LG Energy Solutions wins the trade secret infringement case and is judged advantageously in the patent infringement case, it can solidify its victory in the battery dispute that has continued since 2019.
According to the industry on the 14th, ITC will make an’Initial Determination’ on the claim of LG Energy Solution that SK Innovation infringed on battery-related patents on the 19th (local time).
The preliminary decision is a preliminary decision made by the ITC administrative judge who investigated the case of infringement of patent rights or trade secrets, and the committee makes a final decision based on this preliminary decision.
The ITC Administrative Judge’s preliminary decision in many cases leads to a final committee decision. In patent infringement cases, it is known that about 90% of the preliminary decisions were maintained in the final ITC decision.
Earlier, LG Energy Solutions (at the time, LG Chem) requested ITC to take relevant measures in September 2019, claiming that SK Innovation infringed 4 cases, including 3 US patents related to its separator and 1 US patent for cathode materials.
LG requested ITC to ban all imports of SK Innovation’s battery cells, modules, packs, materials, and parts from the United States, which infringed on the patent, and filed a lawsuit for damages in the Federal District Court of Delaware.
The two companies did not comment on this case except for the principled position of “I will be faithful to the lawsuit”.
The patent infringement case between the two companies at ITC was derived from the case of infringement of battery trade secrets, which was finally concluded with LG’s victory last month.
In April 2019, LG Energy Solutions requested ITC to investigate, saying that SK Innovation removed its manpower, which is concerned about the leakage of core technologies. Accordingly, in September of the same year, SK requested sanctions from ITC, claiming that LG infringed on its battery patent rights, and LG also responded by requesting an investigation into SK’s patent infringement to ITC.
At the time, the patent infringement case filed by LG is the latest, but as the investigation procedure for the patent infringement case filed by SK is delayed, a preliminary decision on the case filed by LG comes first.
The case of the infringement of trade secrets, which is the headquarter case, was concluded with LG’s victory. On the 10th of last month, the ITC ordered SK to ban the import of some lithium-ion batteries for 10 years, saying that SK infringed on LG’s battery trade secrets.
In this regard, high-ranking officials of the two companies met and negotiated earlier this month, but it is known that they were unable to narrow the position due to the difference in compensation.
It is expected that if LG Energy Solutions is recognized for damages of patent infringement in a preliminary decision made on the 19th of this month, it is expected to take a more favorable position in the battery litigation negotiations in the future.
On the contrary, if patent infringement is not recognized, SK Innovation is expected to use it as an opportunity to reverse the charter by taking a life and death in the patent infringement case filed by the company.
However, as the patent rights infringement case is derived from the trade secret infringement case, it is known that if both companies agree on the trade secret infringement case, the patent-related case is also likely to be withdrawn.
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2021/03/14 06:15 sent