ITC postpones judgment on LG and SK battery lawsuit again
Third delay with judgment expected in February 10
The US’s International Trade Commission (ITC) has delayed its final judgment on the lawsuit between LG Energy Solution and SK Innovation over car battery technology theft for a third time.
The ITC said on Wednesday that the final judgment will now be announced on February 10. It didn’t specify as reason the postponement.
It is not unusual for ITC to postpone its judgment but doing so three times and by four months is uncommon
LG claimed the delay was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, while SK claimed the verdict was being delayed for a full review of whether the technology theft happened and its caution over the judgment’s impact on the US economy.
ITC, in a preliminary judgment, accepted LG’s argument that SK stole technology related to car battery from it.
LG supplies batteries to General Motors, while SK supplies them to Ford.
A final judgment will see SK being unable to supply batteries to Ford. The US car giant will also unlikely to find a new supplier for batteries in that scenario.
LG and SK are still negotiating over a settlement. However, the two parties are yet to find common ground on how much SK should pay for damages. SK has proposed a payment of around 1 trillion won while LG is demanding a higher amount, people familiar with the matter said.
Last year, the Blue House, South Korea’s equivalent of US’s White House, intervened, demanding the two settle the matter. Senior executives from both companies met with government officials present in September but failed to reach an agreement.
Meanwhile, the two companies have two more cases that are being reviewed by the ITC besides the battery theft case.