US patent could ban imports threatening domestic battery sector
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) is considering an import ban on a form of nickel-cobalt manganese powder used to create efficient lithium-ion batteries for use in energy storage and electric vehicles. The ban would involve enforcing two patents on the grounds of the public interest by protecting US jobs and over a decade’s worth of investment in clean energy. The US Department of Energy has provided half of the funding for a $50m plant in Ohio that manufactures the powder. It argues that cheaper imports would undermine its ability to “earn a return on investment for taxpayers”.

The U.S. International Trade Commission is about to do something it hasn’t done in a long time as it weighs a policy that could shape the future of the United States’ clean energy industry.

The ITC has called two hearings set for Nov. 17 to weigh a possible import ban on a material used to develop more efficient lithium-ion batteries, the kind used in electric vehicles or large-scale energy storage. During the first hearing, attorneys for two European materials companies will hash out the finer points of contributory patent infringement and whether laches is a defense in a Section 337 action.