Author: Feng Jingang

Introduction: Plagiarism is by no means a solution for the healthy and powerful Chinese power battery industry.

This afternoon, CATL officially announced that it has filed a lawsuit against NCM alleging patent infringement.

It is worth noting that the product range involved in this alleged infringement by CATL covers “all products”, which means that once the infringement is confirmed, CATL’s entire product line may be banned from sale, and the impact will be enormous.

Referring to the successful lawsuit by NCM against Taifuer for infringement last time, which was successful in both appeals, it can be seen that the probability of NCM’s lawsuit against CATL being successful this time is not low.

This also shows NCM’s style of dealing with alleged infringement events: silent but deadly.

As this infringement involves the entire product line, the underlying technical patent is a basic patent that is not limited by battery shape (square shell, cylindrical), material (ternary, LFP), etc.

Inquiring with industry insiders about this technology, our reporter did not get a clear answer, as there have been different opinions, such as regarding the winding process, top shell, or carbon anode.

In addition, our reporter learned from an informant that the battery involved in the alleged infringement has already been installed in tens of thousands of vehicles.

In fact, regardless of the technology involved, it shows NCM’s strength in power battery technology.

According to Enterprise Check, NCM has a high number of patents, reaching 4,505, while CATL has only 340 patents, and the two technologies are not at all comparable.

For NCM’s lawsuit against CATL this time, although nominally it is for patent infringement, more of the industry’s opinion is that CATL has touched NCM’s cheese.

A document from a securities firm indicates that in the first quarter of this year, NCM accounted for only 4.19% of Guangzhou Automobile’s power battery share and CATL accounted for as much as 77.53%, with similar proportions for GAC Toyota.

As can be seen, the Guangzhou Auto Group has already gone with CATL instead of NCM when it comes to power battery selection.

In summary, regardless of NCM’s purpose for suing CATL, the former always has the upper hand in legal terms, and plagiarism is by no means a solution for the healthy and powerful Chinese power battery industry.

In terms of global competition in power batteries, NCM has been ranked first in the world for four consecutive years, becoming the face of Chinese power batteries. However, the covetousness of the Japanese and Korean battery factories for the first place, and the unwillingness of Europe and the United States to lose their batteries, have put NCM on constant alert.

Therefore, for NCM, using patents as an international weapon to protect itself is a necessary measure if it wants to maintain its advantage.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.