LG Energy Solution has expanded its patent infringement litigation front against Chinese battery companies from Europe to the United States.

On July 22 (local time), Tulip Innovation, which manages LG Energy Solution’s patents, stated in a press release that “LG Energy Solution has filed a petition with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) for an exclusion order and separately filed a patent infringement lawsuit with a federal district court in Texas against China’s EVE Energy and others.”

EVE Energy is a lithium-ion battery company established in 2001. In the electric vehicle battery market, it ranks around eighth globally, but in cylindrical products for small devices such as power tools, it is regarded as being in the top tier.

With this lawsuit, LG Energy Solution has expanded the scope of its patent infringement actions from the existing pouch and prismatic formats to cylindrical cells. Since becoming the first company in Korea to successfully mass-produce cylindrical lithium-ion batteries in 1998, LG Energy Solution has secured numerous patents. A total of five patents are at issue in the litigation: four cylindrical cell patents, including tab-less (a structure in which electrode tabs are removed) technology, and one separator patent. The company takes the position that these technologies are widely used in the U.S. power tool market and that its rights are being infringed.

LG Energy Solution has included not only EVE Energy but also power tool customers that procure cells from EVE Energy and import them into the United States as respondents in the ITC complaint. If it prevails, the ITC can issue an exclusion order blocking the importation of the relevant products into the U.S. A cease-and-desist order prohibiting the sale of products already being distributed in the U.S. market is also possible.

Previously, LG Energy Solution achieved results in Europe by filing a series of patent lawsuits against Chinese firms. Last year in Germany, it brought actions against Sunwoda for infringement of patents related to electrode assembly structures and separator coating (SRS). The court ordered a sales ban on the relevant batteries, the retrieval and destruction of inventory, and compensation for damages, and both sides concluded the dispute last month by entering into a license agreement.

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