Patent infringement suits filed with ITC, Texas federal court

Power tool makers also targeted as battle extends to cylindrical batteries

An employee inspects the battery production line at LG Energy Solution's factory in Holland, Michigan. [LG Energy Solution]
An employee inspects the battery production line at LG Energy Solution's factory in Holland, Michigan. [LG Energy Solution]

LG Energy Solution has extended its patent offensive against Chinese battery makers to the United States, broadening its legal campaign beyond pouch and prismatic cells to cover core cylindrical battery technology.

Tulip Innovation, LG Energy Solution's patent management company, said Wednesday that LG Energy Solution had filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission and a patent infringement lawsuit in a Texas federal district court against Chinese battery maker EVE Energy and others.

Founded in 2001, EVE Energy ranks among the world's top-tier companies in small batteries used in power tools and other compact devices. In the electric vehicle battery market, it ranks eighth worldwide.

The suits are significant because they mark LG Energy Solution's expansion of its patent campaign from pouch and prismatic batteries into cylindrical cells. The litigation covers five patents in total — four related to cylindrical batteries, including tabless technology, and one related to separators — with LG Energy Solution alleging that battery technology widely used in the US power tool market has been infringed.

LG Energy Solution became the first company in South Korea to successfully mass-produce cylindrical lithium-ion batteries in 1998, and has since built up technology and patents spanning the 18650 and 2170 formats through to the next-generation 46-series cylindrical battery.

The ITC complaint targets not only EVE Energy but also power tool manufacturers that source battery cells from the company and import finished products into the United States. A win at the ITC could result in an exclusion order barring imports of the products in question, as well as a cease-and-desist order prohibiting their sale and distribution within the country.

Giustino De Santis, CEO of Tulip Innovation, said the company filed the ITC complaint in close cooperation with LG Energy Solution to seek an import ban on infringing battery products. "Filing these new enforcement proceedings promptly demonstrates Tulip's commitment to addressing the proliferation of unauthorized lithium-ion battery products across various industries and to maintaining a market based on fair competition," he said.

LG Energy Solution has been stepping up its global patent campaign against Chinese companies. Last year in Germany, it filed a European patent infringement suit against Chinese battery maker Xinwangda over electrode assembly structure and SRS coating patents, winning rulings that included a sales ban, product recall and destruction, and damages. The company then settled the dispute by signing a patent licensing agreement with Xinwangda in June.

Meanwhile, LG Energy Solution has been expanding beyond battery supply into ESS construction and operation. The company was recently selected as a battery supplier for what is described as Google's largest-ever solar and ESS project, and was also chosen as the operating entity for an ESS buildout project aimed at expanding power infrastructure in the Honam region.


eyre@heraldcorp.com