Nickel Hydride Batteries

Introduction to patent technology of ternary materials for Nickel Hydride Batteries

Recently, at the 6th Council Meeting of the 6th China Chemical and Physical Power Industry Association, Secretary-General Liu Yanlong particularly emphasized the issue of patent technology layout of ternary materials for lithium batteries. He pointed out that under the hot industry trend of ternary lithium batteries, especially high-nickel ternary, many domestic cathode material companies are facing huge foreign patent fees in their development. On this issue, the association will hold a special discussion meeting in the near future to take countermeasures to reduce the cost pressure in the development of enterprises.

So, what is the current status of patent technology layout of ternary materials for lithium batteries in China?

Core patents need to "overtake on the curve"

Some professionals have conducted statistics on domestic and foreign patents in the field of ternary materials. The results show that: First, the development of domestic ternary materials started late, lacked basic and core patents, and there was still a large gap with Japanese and Korean companies, 3M Company in the United States, etc.

Judging from the above authorization and licensing information, as domestic power batteries and ternary material companies accelerate their entry into the international market, some domestic ternary material companies have to strengthen their patent layout to obtain relevant operating freedom and cooperate with battery customers to cope with strict foreign qualification review.

Tang Shunguo, chairman and general manager of Ruixiang New Materials, said, "We highly respect intellectual property rights and attach importance to the patent sub-licensing of nickel-cobalt-manganese cathode materials. This sub-license is of great strategic significance to both us and our downstream customers."

In fact, there are very few domestic ternary material companies that purchase patents. There are two main reasons: first, the cost of purchasing patents is high, and small and medium-sized enterprises can hardly afford it; second, domestic policies are relatively loose, especially the relevant legal system is not perfect, and some companies are lucky.

Industry insiders believe that patent licensing and patent disputes between domestic and foreign companies will become more and more normalized. Therefore, whether domestic companies adopt patent licensing or take a detour, accelerating patent layout is a necessary guarantee for the sustainable development of the industry.

Revelation of the life and death of lithium iron phosphate

There is no doubt that domestic ternary material companies can only become bigger and stronger on a global scale if they eliminate the risk of patent infringement.

People who are familiar with the development of the domestic lithium battery industry must remember the "patent invalidation case" in the lithium iron phosphate battery industry in 2012. The three companies including Hydro-Quebec in Canada claimed to have the patent for lithium iron phosphate battery technology. The Chinese Patent Reexamination Board ruled that the patent technology of lithium iron phosphate batteries was invalid.

It is understood that the patent application of the Canadian company almost covers all aspects of the current lithium iron phosphate battery production technology. If this patent is followed, most domestic battery manufacturers will be infringing. And if it is a foreign party, it means that if Chinese battery manufacturers produce lithium iron phosphate batteries in the future, they will need to pay patent fees to the patent holder. The foreign party's asking price is also very high: a one-time payment of 10 million US dollars in patent entry fees or 2,500 US dollars per ton of lithium iron phosphate. Fortunately, this patent, which is crucial to the development of China's lithium iron phosphate battery industry and new energy vehicle industry, ended in failure with the foreign party.

However, many experiences and lessons in this case are worth thinking about by colleagues in the domestic lithium battery industry. Under the current hot development situation of new energy vehicles, the leading companies in the domestic lithium battery industry, especially the leading companies that aspire to participate in international market competition, should learn from this and deploy the core patent technology of ternary materials in a more long-term and strategic manner.

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