LG Energy Solution wins another injunction against China's Sunwoda

LG Energy Solution's plant in Ochang, North Chungcheong Province / Courtesy of LG Energy Solution

LG Energy Solution has won another injunction against China’s Sunwoda Group in a patent infringement case in Germany regarding battery electrode and separator technology.

Tulip Innovation, the licensing agent for LG Energy Solution’s patents, announced Wednesday that the Munich District Court has issued a third injunction ordering Sunwoda to recall and destroy any remaining batteries in its direct or indirect possession. It also ordered the Chinese company to pay damages to Tulip in principle and provide detailed accounting information to enable Tulip to calculate the final amount of the damages claim.

The decision stems from Tulip’s legal action against Sunwoda Electronic, Sunwoda Mobility Energy Technology and their German affiliates — Sunwoda Europe and Sunwoda Electric Vehicle Battery Germany.

The patent at issue relates to LG Energy Solution’s technology for an electrode arrangement and a complex separator arrangement in a battery. This technology is reportedly widely used in the field of prismatic battery cells and broadly applied in the development and production of high-output, high-capacity batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems.

The German court ruled that Dacia Spring electric vehicle’s prismatic battery cells, produced by Sunwoda, infringed on LG Energy Solution’s core lithium-ion battery technology patents.

“LG Energy Solution, which has been leading technological innovation and advancement in the global battery industry, is strongly responding to the widespread issue of patent freeriding in the industry,” the company said in a press release.

“The company is taking firm action, such as lawsuits and warnings, against companies that illegally use its patents, while also working to establish a global battery patent licensing market to lead a fair environment to compete in the industry.”

The batteries at issue in the case are specific models used in the Dacia Spring, but the patent is applicable to any battery model to the extent that it makes use of the patented technology.

The decision is immediately enforceable upon the provision of security, although Sunwoda still has the right to appeal.

“This (court) decision reinforces the value of Tulip’s program and demonstrates our commitment to upholding fair and competitive market conditions in the battery industry,” Tulip CEO Giustino de Sanctis said.

Tulip previously won two injunctions against Sunwoda companies in May based on pivotal patents concerning battery separator technology, granting its request for injunctive relief against the batteries at issue.