SEOUL, February 03 (AJP) - LG Chem has filed for a court injunction against JaeSe Energy, the South Korean subsidiary of Chinese cathode materials producer Ronbay, seeking to halt alleged patent infringement, industry sources said Monday.
If granted, the injunction could effectively suspend JaeSe Energy’s domestic operations, which have annual production capacity of 70,000 tons.
According to the sources, LG Chem submitted the injunction request on Jan. 16. JaeSe Energy was established as Ronbay’s Korean unit, with Ronbay widely regarded in the industry as the world’s largest producer of nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) cathode materials by output.
The legal action follows a ruling by the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board, which rejected petitions by JaeSe Energy seeking to invalidate three LG Chem patents. Two of the patents relate to cathode crystal-structure orientation, while the third covers relative composition ratios on the cathode surface.
LG Chem and JaeSe Energy have been locked in legal disputes since 2024 over core cathode material technologies. LG Chem filed a lawsuit in August 2024, alleging that cathode products manufactured and sold by JaeSe Energy and Ronbay infringed multiple patents.
JaeSe Energy has maintained that its technology was independently developed and countered by filing petitions to invalidate LG Chem’s patents.
The appeals board upheld the validity of LG Chem’s patents and dismissed the challenges. If the court grants the injunction, production, sales and distribution of products found to infringe the patents would be immediately restricted.
JaeSe Energy operates a manufacturing facility in Chungju, central South Korea, with annual capacity of 70,000 tons — enough to supply cathode materials for roughly 700,000 electric vehicles. A shutdown could disrupt cathode supply chains both domestically and overseas.
An LG Chem official described the company’s patented technologies as foundational to maintaining South Korea’s competitiveness in high-performance battery markets.
"LG Chem intends to protect its intellectual property while also pursuing licensing and other IP-based business models to promote broader industry growth," the official said.
* This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP.
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