SK Innovation "US Patent Trial and Appeal Board Mentions 'Possibility of LG Patent Invalidity' as Core Issue"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] SK Innovation has claimed that the essence of the US PTAB (Patent Trial and Appeal Board) patent invalidation petition lies in the mention of the 'possibility of LG patent invalidation.'

On the 18th, Lim Soo-gil, Head of SK Innovation's Value Creation Center, issued a statement regarding the US PTAB patent invalidation petition with LG Energy Solution, saying, "LG Energy Solution should not obscure the core issue and must respond to the essence of this matter, which is the 'possibility of invalidation of LG patents mentioned by PTAB.'"

Lim reiterated that the key point concerning PTAB's dismissal of SK's patent invalidation petition (IPR) was the mention of the 'possibility of invalidation.'

In particular, the company emphasized that Lim clearly stated the opinion that a "reasonably strong case on unpatentability" was presented regarding the disputed '517 patent.'

Lim said, "SK's petition to the US PTAB to declare LG's patents invalid was based on an objective analysis of the patents involved in the lawsuit filed by LG against SK at the US ITC in 2019, which led to the judgment that the possibility of invalidation was very high."

SK Innovation also highlighted that the Korean '310 patent,' corresponding to the US '517 patent,' was ruled invalid in a patent invalidation trial held in Korea in 2011.

Regarding LG Energy Solution's criticism, "If dismissal is common, why did you apply knowing that?" SK responded, "The timing of SK's IPR application was before the formal announcement of the US patent authority's policy change (announcement by the Patent Office Director on September 24). Until the time SK filed the IPR, most IPRs filed during the ITC lawsuit were being instituted, so it was a natural decision for SK, confident in the high possibility of invalidation, to apply for the IPR process."

Lim added, "SK wants to clarify that the 'mention of the possibility of invalidation of LG patents by PTAB,' which LG has been avoiding responding to, is true. Due to the US Patent Office's policy change, SK's IPR petition was dismissed, so we believe there is no need for further debate on this, and SK plans to clearly contest the patent invalidation in the lawsuit."

He continued, "We will engage fairly so that the lawsuit can be concluded quickly and will be transparent about everything."

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