LG Chem "SK Inno Registers Patents Using Others' Technology and Even Files Lawsuits"

LG Chem States Position on Battery Patent Infringement
"Patent 994 Also Applied to 2013 A7 Battery"

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The battery war between LG Chem and SK Innovation is intensifying. LG Chem claimed that SK Innovation not only stole battery technology and registered patents but also filed a lawsuit in return.

On the 4th, LG Chem stated, "SK Innovation took someone else's technology, registered it as a patent, and even filed a patent infringement lawsuit in return. When we pointed out the circumstances of evidence destruction to hide this, they baselessly claimed it was a 'pressure card for negotiation advantage' and 'misleading public opinion.'

Earlier, in September last year, SK Innovation filed a patent infringement lawsuit with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), alleging that LG Chem infringed on its battery technology patent (patent number 994). Recently, LG Chem submitted a request to the ITC to sanction SK Innovation, stating that the patents targeted in the lawsuit filed by SK Innovation are LG Chem's prior technology and that SK Innovation is destroying evidence.

In its statement that day, LG Chem emphasized that the 994 patent, which SK Innovation claims was infringed, was prior technology already held by LG Chem as of June 2015 when SK Innovation filed the patent. This technology was installed in LG Chem's A7 battery, sold to Chrysler Pacifica since 2013.

LG Chem said, "Following the trade secret infringement lawsuit, circumstances of intentional evidence destruction have emerged in the patent lawsuit, leading us to request legal sanctions. Operating a U.S. plant with technology stolen by SK Innovation is an unjust act, and the claim of patent infringement itself before the ITC is invalid."

As evidence supporting LG Chem's claim that SK Innovation's 994 patent is prior technology, LG Chem presented that "the inventor of SK Innovation's 994 patent possessed documents containing detailed information about LG Chem's battery technology."

LG Chem reported that among the documents submitted by SK Innovation under the ITC order in March this year, a file titled '2nd Regular Meeting Material,' created based on LG Chem's A7 battery cell technology information from March 2015, was discovered.

Referring to media reports that the inventor of the 994 patent was a researcher who transferred from LG Chem to SK Innovation, LG Chem pointed out, "If it is revealed that the patent was filed with copied technology, the patent is highly likely to be invalidated."

LG Chem claimed that around September last year, when SK Innovation filed the lawsuit, SK Innovation did not stop the 30-day automatic deletion program for the recycle bin, resulting in the destruction of thousands of files, continuing key evidence destruction acts. Various evidence destruction circumstances of SK Innovation have been revealed through ITC forensic investigations.

LG Chem explained, "We requested sanctions based on SK Innovation's destruction acts ignoring the obligation to preserve evidence. Since the prior technology of SK's 994 technology is our A7 battery cell, we asked for recognition that SK's patent lacks novelty."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.