Driving down the I-85 highway just outside Commerce, Georgia, it is impossible to miss the US state's newest industrial megasite — a 2.4m square foot battery plant being built by South Korea's SK Innovation. Contact online >>
Driving down the I-85 highway just outside Commerce, Georgia, it is impossible to miss the US state''s newest industrial megasite — a 2.4m square foot battery plant being built by South Korea''s SK Innovation.
Pledging $2.6bn to the project, SKI is making the largest single investment in Georgia''s history, promising to transform the south-eastern state into one of the world''s leading hubs for electric vehicle batteries.
Yet even before the factory gates open, the plant''s fate is being called into question by a bitter feud over trade secrets.
The US International Trade Commission will decide next month whether to uphold preliminary findings that SKI deliberately destroyed thousands of documents suggesting it had illegally acquired sensitive technology from Korean arch-rival LG Chem, the world''s largest lithium-ion battery maker.
"If the ruling goes against us, substantial difficulties are expected," said Lee Byoung-rae, SKI general counsel.
The ITC is limited to banning the import of goods it deems the result of trade secret theft. A decision against SKI, which denies any wrongdoing, could prevent the company from shipping in materials needed to start production at the new site — jeopardising its promise to create 2,600 jobs.
The final ruling is also filed as evidence in the multibillion-dollar civil lawsuit that was launched alongside the ITC case.
The investment is so key to US electric vehicle ambitions that Wilbur Ross, the US secretary of commerce, visited the site last year to pick up a shovel for the groundbreaking ceremony.
But the ITC''s findings may also have global implications. The agency has become a powerful tool in trade secrets cases — even when the dispute is between foreign companies, involving acts on foreign soil.
This challenge of employee mobility vs trade secret protection frequently arises in niche technology industries where employees can have a very special expertise
"The ITC is being used as a vehicle for extraterritorial enforcement of US trade secret principles," said Sharon Sandeen, law professor and director of the IP Institute at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law.
Some companies have even turned to the ITC to hobble competition, according to Elizabeth Rowe, law professor at the University of Florida and author of textbooks on intellectual property.
"The US tends to be the largest market for a lot of these kinds of goods," she said. "The ability to keep somebody out of the US market can be the strongest remedy."
Competition between SKI and LGC has certainly intensified. LGC sued five engineers in 2017 to stop them joining SKI, which had begun to expand its battery business. LGC won the case but over the next two years about 80 more key employees moved to SKI.
When LGC looked into the computers of some who had left, alarm bells rang. "We . . . found their presentation materials for interviews with SKI. And the presentation materials included some of our trade secrets," said Min Kyung-hwa, LGC''s head of IP.
According to LGC, SKI was encouraging candidates to bring confidential information and technical presentations to interviews. SKI shared this information with relevant teams, according to other emails.
SKI denied the allegations. "As for any company looking to hire in a technical field, SKI was looking for people with relevant . . . expertise," said Sturgis Sobin, partner at Covington & Burling, the company''s Washington-based lawyers. "In the interviewing process SKI carefully evaluated the experience of all applicants . . . The only question is, was there anything illegal about what took place? We firmly believe there wasn''t."
But in November 2018 a bombshell dropped. VW announced it would place a hotly contested multibillion-dollar battery contract with SKI. A few months later Ford followed suit.
"We believe they obtained contracts with customers they never would have had if they had not stolen LGC''s technology," said Song Jung, partner at Dentons, LGC''s US law firm.
In early April 2019 LGC sent a letter to SKI in Korea threatening legal action. Three weeks later it filed its civil suit in Delaware and its ITC case.
The ITC suit sparked a discovery process in which SKI was asked to hand over all relevant documents to LGC. It soon became apparent that weeks before, the day LGC sent its letter, SKI had ordered documents to be deleted in what it says was a routine security sweep.
Yet traces were left behind. LGC found files in the recycle bins of SKI computers that shed light on internal actions after the letter was received, as well as information brought to the company by its new hires.
Days after the letter, employees were asked by email to delete documents containing keywords including LG or L Company as they could be "misunderstood", according to filings. If documents had to be handed over, they were told to be "sure to delete the company name from the title and content". Finally, they were instructed to "delete this email after confirming and handling it".
On April 30, the day after the lawsuits were filed, employees were asked to delete as soon as possible "material related to the rival company from every single individual''s PC, mail storage archives and team rooms", and to "especially scrutinise" SKI''s US subsidiary SKBA.
"PCs may even be subject to seizure and examination," they were told. "Delete this email after completing this directive".
Only later that day were employees asked to preserve documents, but no effort was made to recover any deleted material.
Other emails revealed that job candidates had brought more to SKI than experience. In one, sent in 2018, an ex-LGC employee attached his former employer''s core manufacturing recipes for 57 kinds of EV battery, according to Mr Min.
SKI insists there is no evidence it deliberately misappropriated trade secrets, either through its hiring process or otherwise. IP experts say any claim of trade secret theft could be difficult to prove.
Trade secrets are not like patents, where infringement is comparatively easier to prove, according to Jacques de Werra, IP law professor at the University of Geneva law school. And highly skilled employees cannot be prohibited from changing jobs.
"This challenge of employee mobility vs trade secret protection frequently arises in niche technology industries where employees can have a very special expertise," he said.
SKI also denied that documents were deleted to hide violations. "It was part of our regular documents review for internal compliance," said Mr Lee. "We just got rid of a small part of all documents and most documents still exist."
The company argued that under South Korean law there was no obligation to preserve documents. By contrast, US law requires preservation if there are reasonable grounds to believe a lawsuit is likely.
"We had no idea that LG was going to sue us in the US," Mr Lee said. The documents review in early April "was just to prepare for possible litigation in future".
About Wellington lg chem
As the photovoltaic (PV) industry continues to evolve, advancements in Wellington lg chem have become critical to optimizing the utilization of renewable energy sources. From innovative battery technologies to intelligent energy management systems, these solutions are transforming the way we store and distribute solar-generated electricity.
When you're looking for the latest and most efficient Wellington lg chem for your PV project, our website offers a comprehensive selection of cutting-edge products designed to meet your specific requirements. Whether you're a renewable energy developer, utility company, or commercial enterprise looking to reduce your carbon footprint, we have the solutions to help you harness the full potential of solar energy.
By interacting with our online customer service, you'll gain a deep understanding of the various Wellington lg chem featured in our extensive catalog, such as high-efficiency storage batteries and intelligent energy management systems, and how they work together to provide a stable and reliable power supply for your PV projects.
