LG-SK 'Battery Lawsuit' Endless Battle of Claims

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] The Office of Unfair Import Investigations (OUII) of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has submitted a supportive opinion on LG Chem's request to sanction SK Innovation for evidence destruction in the patent litigation between LG Chem and SK Innovation.

As LG Chem holds a favorable position in the trade secret infringement lawsuit between the two companies and the final verdict approaches, the OUII's opinion in the patent infringement case is expected to influence the stalled negotiations between the two parties.

According to the ITC on the 27th, the OUII recently submitted a brief to the court supporting LG Chem's request to sanction SK Innovation.

Earlier, LG Chem filed a request for sanctions with the ITC at the end of last month, alleging SK Innovation's evidence destruction. SK Innovation sued LG Chem for infringing its battery patent technology (Patent 994), while LG Chem countered that it holds prior art (A7) for Patent 994, arguing that SK's patent lacks novelty.

According to the disclosed brief, the OUII acknowledged the circumstances of evidence destruction presented by LG Chem and SK Innovation's intentionality, stating that the sanctions requested by LG Chem against SK Innovation are appropriate.

The OUII raised concerns about SK Innovation's negligence in submitting documents required in relation to LG Chem's claims of 'inventor ineligibility and patent invalidity.'

The OUII pointed out, "SK Innovation failed to properly submit documents ordered by the ITC judge, which were later discovered through forensic analysis," calling this "a clear violation of the duty to disclose evidence."

It added, "This raises fundamental doubts that SK Innovation deleted documents containing LG Chem's information at the corporate level," and stated, "SK Innovation should have complied more diligently with the document submission order."

Regarding SK Innovation's claim that LG Chem unlawfully removed internal information obtained during the forensic process, the OUII also suggested that forensic examination of LG Chem is necessary to verify the facts.

Even after the OUII's brief was made public, LG Chem and SK Innovation continued their dispute.

LG Chem welcomed the OUII's judgment, stating, "We will sincerely participate in the lawsuit until the ITC's final decision."

On the other hand, SK Innovation reiterated that Patent 994 is a self-developed technology and denied any evidence destruction.

In a statement, SK Innovation emphasized, "We submitted a rebuttal to LG Chem's sanction request on the 11th, and the OUII also submitted its opinion on the same day. Therefore, the OUII prepared its brief based solely on LG Chem's claims without considering our rebuttal."

SK Innovation claimed, "The documents LG Chem alleges were deleted are properly preserved and are unrelated to the patent infringement lawsuit. If the OUII had known this through our rebuttal, the direction of their brief would have naturally been different."

SK Innovation also countered by stating that the OUII supported their request for forensic examination of LG Chem, asserting, "This confirms circumstances of LG Chem's leakage of critical technology."

In response, LG Chem said, "The OUII opposes investigations into whether there were significant violations such as breach of confidentiality orders and only does not oppose investigations related to protocol violations in the forensic process where the two parties dispute," adding, "There is no problem with our forensic process. SK's claim of technology leakage is understood as a strategy to avoid serious legal sanctions."

The OUII is an independent organization under the ITC that represents the public interest and provides opinions on litigation matters. The ITC tribunal comprehensively considers the plaintiff's and defendant's positions as well as the OUII's opinions when making final rulings.

In the trade secret infringement lawsuit filed by LG Chem against SK Innovation, SK Innovation has already received an early adverse ruling. The OUII supported LG Chem's claim that SK Innovation destroyed evidence, which played a significant role in the tribunal's early adverse ruling.

The final verdict for the trade secret infringement lawsuit was initially scheduled for the 5th of next month but was postponed by three weeks to the 26th, the ITC announced yesterday. In a recent domestic court case where SK Innovation sued LG Chem for breaching a non-filing agreement, LG Chem won.

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