Battery technologies

LG wants to take action against patent free riders

LG sees a "rising tide of latecomers intentionally and apparently without authorization using its patents for a wide range of commercialized products, including batteries for consumer electronics, energy storage systems and electric vehicles".(Bild: LG Energy Solution)

The South Korean battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution (LGES) wants to find new ways of licensing its battery technologies due to increasing infringements of its patent rights. "In the past two to three years, hordes of latecomers have emerged in the electric car battery business worldwide, which has led to a price war and patent infringements," said Lee Han Sun, Head of the Intellectual Property Center at LGES, on Wednesday.

There is evidence of patent infringements in many countries, including the US, India and China. Around 580 patents have been infringed and the number of infringements is likely to increase. He did not want to name the companies concerned.

In addition to warnings and lawsuits, LSEG now wants to use various models to exploit its patent rights, said Lee. Among other things, potentially infringed patents are to be bundled worldwide in a patent pool and gradually licensed.

"Without patents, we could never justify spending a fortune on new products," said Lee. "There were times when we had to invest a lot of money (in research and development). For example, we put 20 to 30 percent of our revenue into research to develop lithium-ion batteries."

According to the company, around 4.5 billion dollars have been invested in battery research and development over the past ten years. The world's second-largest manufacturer of batteries for electric vehicles after the Chinese company Catl supplies batteries to Tesla, General Motors, Volkswagen and other car manufacturers.