SK Innovation "Preliminary Patent Trial Victory, Recognition of Independent Technology"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] SK Innovation announced on the 1st that "this decision recognizes SK Innovation's independent technological capabilities" in relation to the preliminary ruling on the patent infringement lawsuit by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).

Upon the announcement of the ITC's preliminary ruling, SK Innovation stated, "We have long developed excellent battery technology independently, and we expected the ITC to make a non-infringement decision."

On the 31st (local time), the ITC issued an Initial Determination in the patent infringement lawsuit (case number: 337-1181) filed by LG Energy Solution (then LG Chem) against SK Innovation in September 2019, ruling that SK Innovation's battery technology does not infringe or is invalid against LG Energy Solution's patents.

SK Innovation believes that this preliminary ruling gives them an advantage in the patent infringement lawsuit filed by LG Energy Solution. This patent infringement lawsuit is expected to be finalized through the ITC Commission's Final Determination process on August 2nd (local time).

SK Innovation emphasized that the patents 517, 241, and 152 related to the 'coating separator patent' are patents that LG had previously litigated against China's ATL at the ITC and reached a settlement on.

They added, "Despite having received non-infringement and invalidity rulings in a domestic patent infringement lawsuit filed by LG against SK Innovation from 2011 to 2014, LG filed a lawsuit again based on the same U.S. patent (517 patent)," and stated, "This ITC preliminary decision is significant in reaffirming such criticism."

They continued, "We believe it is highly meaningful that SK battery technology's independence has been recognized through this preliminary decision," and added, "Even if LG appeals this decision, we are confident that we can defend ourselves sufficiently."

Lim Soo-gil, Head of SK Innovation's Value Creation Center, said, "SK battery technology has been accumulated since the mid-1980s and possesses top competitiveness in terms of safety from fires, charging capacity, and charging time," adding, "We will continue to devote ourselves to technological development for the advancement of various industrial ecosystems utilizing batteries such as those for trains."

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