Legal

Battery Patent Litigation: Recent Developments The battery sector has traditionally not seen as much patent litigation as may be expected in a growing market filled with innovative companies and new entrants. However, the past few years have seen a shift, as competition intensifies, and there is a trend to more proactive enforcement of intellectual property rights. Below is a summary of patent litigation actions over the last 5 years:

LG Energy vs. SK Innovation 20211: Landmark dispute between two South Korean EV battery companies over patent infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets in the US. Settled in April 2021 with SK paying $1.8 billion and agreeing to a 10-year non-assert agreement, averting an import ban and supply chain crisis for car makers Ford and VW.

CATL vs. CALB 202120252,3: Ongoing “patent warˮ in China, featuring lawsuits, countersuits, and hefty damage claims. CATL first sued CALB in 2021, and by 2023 had won some victories (injunctions and damages) but also saw courts invalidate some patents. CALB counter-sued in late 2023 for ¥1 billion $136 million), alleging CATL and even Tesla infringed its patents - though two of CALBʼs patents were invalidated by the China National Intellectual Property Administration CNIPA) shortly after. CATL responded with yet another lawsuit in 2024, bringing the battle to at least 7 different patents and claiming a cumulative ¥700 million $95 million) in damages. CATLʼs vast patent portfolio underpins its aggressive enforcement; the feud highlights rising damages and patent-owner-friendly Chinese courts.

Umicore enforced patents against Beijing Dangsheng, Ningbo Ronbay and Jiangsu Easpring 20212023 2: the Belgian company sued for battery cathode material patent infringement in China; some cases were settled, others were dismissed.

ATL TDK) vs. CosMx 20244, 5: Resulted in injunctions in both the US and Germany over laptop battery patents. However, the decisions have not all been in ATLʼs favour, as more recently one of the patents has been revoked in the US.

Source: 1 IP Stars, 2 IP Fray, 3 Grey B, 4 Juve, 5 Best Mag,

Extracted from the PDF; charts and images may read imperfectly.