AUTONEWS

LG accuses compatriot of robbery

The veneer of relations between the two South Korean companies erupted definitively when LG Chem, through its US subsidiary LGCMI, reported that it had been the victim of intellectual property theft. The complaint was filed on 29 April at the US International Trade Commission as well as the Delaware court, accusing SK Innovation of "appropriating trade secrets, illegal interference and obtaining illicit economic benefits."
According to LG Chem, between 2016 and 2019, SK had access to LG's secret documents, anything between 400 and 1,900, by hiring 77 LG employees. The South Korean rival also said that the reasons for this hiring were spent by officials taking with them the secrets of the company to which they had previously worked.
LG Chem is a "monster" in the manufacture of batteries for electric cars. But if SK Innovation was a smaller company three years ago, today it has one of the biggest growth potentials. Its accumulator capacity is currently 5 GW, but promises to reach 100 GW within five years.
The exchanges of pennants between the two South Korean battery manufacturers are not new, since recently LG sued SK in the country of origin. The reason for the complaints had also to do with robbery, and the supreme court ultimately upheld LG. It remains to be seen whether the complaint in the US courts will also fall in favor of LG.