SK Innovation banned from the US for 10 Years following LG lawsuit
By Daniel Harrison2021-02-15T13:34:00
The US International Trade Commission has imposed a 10-year ban on SK Innovation for the importation, domestic production, and sale of electric vehicle batteries within the US because of intellectual property theft from rival LG Chem. It is a tough sentence, but perhaps unsurprising given the context of the global push to electrification.
There have been suggestions of a potential voluntary settlement between the two parties, presumably a financial sum for damages and legal costs which could run into the billions. However, quashing the US International Trade Commission (ITC) ruling would then require LG Energy Solution, the battery division of LG Chem, to withdraw its original appeal.
The battle between these two South Korean heavyweights was highly likely. LG Energy Solution is currently the number-one global player in EV batteries with 81 gigawatt hours (GWh) of global yearly capacity, with SK Innovation (SKI) the number five player at 42 GWh (though its actual output is lower).