The US International Trade Commission (ITC) raised the hands of LG in a dispute between LG Energy Solutions (formerly LG Chem's battery business unit) and SK Innovation infringing battery trade secrets on the 10th local time.
Reuters reported that ITC made a final decision to partially acknowledge LG's allegations in the case of infringement of trade secrets that LG Energy Solutions filed against SK Innovation.
Accordingly, ITC issued a limited exclusion order for SK to ban the import of some lithium-ion batteries for 10 years, Reuters said.
However, ITC also imposed a postponement measure allowing SK's suppliers Ford and Volkswagen to import batteries and parts for production in the United States.
Reuters said it would allow imports of batteries and parts for Ford electric vehicle production for four years, and two years to supply parts for the Volkswagen electric vehicle line.
LG applied for an investigation to ITC in April 2019, claiming that SK Innovation has removed its manpower and infringed trade secrets regarding rechargeable battery technology used as batteries for electric vehicles.
In a preliminary trial in February of last year, ITC made a decision to lose early on the grounds that it destroyed the evidence that LG's battery technology was removed from SK Innovation.
This final decision is an extension of that.
The ITC is a federal quasi-judicial body directly under the President that conducts investigations and regulation of unfair trade practices.
As an administrative agency, it judges import and patent infringement issues in the United States.
SK supplies electric vehicle batteries to Volkswagen and Ford, while LG supplies electric vehicle batteries to Tesla and General Motors.