EV battery producers LG Chem and SK Innovation have withdrawn their patent lawsuit in the US and South Korea about inorganic material-coated separators.
The two companies agreed to not file any lawsuits over patents or seek damages for the next 10 years in Korea or overseas and cooperate in the electric vehicle battery business.
“With this agreement, the tiresome patent war has finally come to an end and we will focus on expanding our presence in the global market,” said Kim Hong-dae, head of SK Innovation’s new business department.
“Competition for electric car batteries is getting fiercer and the agreement will help us both focus on developing next-generation battery technology,” said Woo Byeong-min, spokesman at LG Chem.
The patent battle started in December 2011 with LG Chem filing a lawsuit against SK Innovation claiming that it had infringed on its patented inorganic material-coated separators.
SK Innovation then filed a request to the Korea Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board asking to revoke LG Chem’s patent and stating that it lacked of novelty.
The material-coated separators are designed for the integration in midsize to large lithium-ion batteries.
Both Korean companies have to face falling sales prices in batteries for electric vehicles.