CATL Raises Compensation of Patent Infringement Case Against CALB

The lithium battery patent war between Chinese power battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) and its competitor China Aviation Lithium Battery Co., Ltd. (CALB) has escalated. Jiemian News reported on Monday, in light of the alrge number of products involved in the lawsuit, CATL has applied to the court to raise its compensation, and is now asking CALB to compensate more than 510 million yuan ($76.7 million). CATL previously demanded compensation of 185 million yuan.

According to the latest from the China Securities Journal, a spokesperson for CATL responded: “The compensation [has now been] raised to 518 million yuan.”

In July last year, CATL filed an indictment on the patent infringement case of CALB, which was accepted by the Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court. CATL said that the patents involved included invention and utility model patents and that the batteries suspected of patent infringement were used in tens thousands of vehicles.

At that time, CALB responded that the company insisted on an independent R&D center and that all products went through a comprehensive risk investigation by professional IPR teams. The company was sure its products did not infringe upon the IPR of anybody else.

Later, CALB disclosed that CATL was suing it for the infringement of five battery-related patents, involving positive pole pieces, batteries, explosion-proof devices and other technologies. CATL demanded CALB to stop manufacturing and selling the product infringements and claimed 185 million yuan in damages. CALB was also required to pay CATL another 3 million yuan for expenses incurred as a result of the infringement lawsuit.

CALB submitted a prospectus to the HKEx in March this year to apply for a listing. In 2021, its revenue reached 6.8 billion yuan, 2.4 times that of 2020, and the company’s net profit hit 110 million yuan. In 2020, the company suffered a loss of 180 million yuan. CALB disclosed in its IPO that the infringement allegations by CATL lacked foundation and would not impose significant adverse impacts on the company.

SEE ALSO: CATL Obtains World’s First UNECE Access Certification for EV Batteries

According to Korean market research institution SNE, in Q1 this year, the global loading capacity of CATL in the field of power batteries reached 33.3 GWh, ranking first with a market share of 35%. CATL had a loading capacity of 4.2 GWh and a market share of 4.4% in Q1, ranking sixth.