[Complete Battery Mastery]⑫ NCM Powerhouse Korea, Core Patents Held by the US

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The Argonne National Laboratory located in Lemont, central Illinois, USA. Although it belongs to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), its actual operation is managed by the University of Chicago. Argonne National Laboratory is famous for nuclear research. During World War II in 1942, the U.S. secretly conducted the 'Manhattan Project' nationwide to manufacture the atomic bomb. After the war ended in 1946, the U.S. government converted several sites into national laboratories, and Argonne National Laboratory was one of them.

Argonne National Laboratory is not only well known for nuclear research. Battery research for electric vehicles is also conducted here. Argonne holds 125 patents related to cathodes and anodes for lithium-ion, lithium-air, lithium-sulfur, sodium-ion, and flow batteries. It also holds the foundational patents for NCM (Nickel-Cobalt-Manganese) cathode materials, which Korea has a strong advantage in.

US Argonne and 3M Dominate NCM Foundational Patents

Since Sony commercialized the world's first lithium-ion battery in 1991, young researchers at Argonne National Laboratory have been devoted to improving lithium-ion battery performance. The research was led by Michael Thackeray, who worked as a postdoctoral researcher under Professor Goodenough at Oxford University.

They were particularly interested in improving the lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) cathode material developed by Professor Goodenough. Theoretically, when using LCO as a cathode material, the capacity per unit weight is 274 milliampere-hours per gram (mAh/g), but due to lithium-ion deintercalation phenomena, the actual performance is about half, around 150 mAh/g. LCO cathode batteries were sufficient for small electronic devices like smartphones but were not suitable for medium to large batteries. Therefore, many scientists sought ways to improve the capacity of LCO cathode materials.

Thackeray and his colleagues discovered that reducing the cobalt (Co) content in LCO while adding manganese oxide (Li2MnO3) and nickel (Ni) could stably increase the capacity of lithium-ion batteries. This led to the creation of NCM (also called NMC in the West) cathode materials. Since NCM reduced the proportion of expensive cobalt, it also had the advantage of lowering manufacturing costs.

Researchers at the U.S. Argonne National Laboratory who discovered NCM cathode materials. From left to right in the photo: Karil Amin, Michael Tuckeray, Christopher Johnson. (Photo by Argonne National Laboratory)

In June 2000, Thackeray, along with fellow researchers Christopher Johnson and Kalil Amine, registered related patents in the United States. The patent title was "Lithium metal oxide electrodes for lithium cells and batteries" (U.S. Patent 6,677,082).

The list of applicants for this patent also includes Professor Jaekook Kim. Professor Kim has been a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Chonnam National University since 2004 and served as president of the Korean Battery Society in 2022. After earning his Ph.D. at the University of Texas, he worked at the U.S. National Argonne Laboratory from 1999 to 2003, collaborating on this research.

NCM patent map filed by Argonne National Laboratory in June 2000.

At the time of filing this patent, they probably did not realize that their patent would change the global secondary battery and electric vehicle industries. Although the market share of the currently inexpensive LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) batteries has expanded significantly, the vast majority of the electric vehicle market is dominated by NCM cathode batteries. According to market research firm EV Volumes, as of 2022, lithium-ion batteries using NCM cathodes accounted for 61.3% of the market share.

As the battery industry grew in the late 2000s and NMC cathode technology became widely used, Argonne National Laboratory began actively enforcing its patent rights. In 2009, German chemical company BASF and Japan's Toda Kogyo were the first to sign license agreements with Argonne.

The next focus was South Korea. At that time, LG Chem was mass-producing the world's first NCM523 (nickel 50%, cobalt 20%, manganese 30%) batteries in 2007 and negotiating lithium-ion battery supply contracts with General Motors (GM) in the U.S. Upon learning this, Argonne contacted LG Chem. LG Chem, which needed to supply NCM-based batteries to the U.S., signed a license agreement with Argonne in 2010. Later, GM also signed an NCM patent license agreement with Argonne.

Meanwhile, Toda Kogyo, which had a license agreement with Argonne for NCM patents, established a joint venture called STM with Samsung Fine Chemicals in 2011 to develop secondary battery cathode materials. Initially, the equity ratio was 50:50, but Samsung Fine Chemicals later increased its stake to 58%. STM produced cathode materials at its Ulsan plant and supplied them to Samsung SDI. In 2015, when Samsung Group sold its petrochemical affiliates, Samsung Fine Chemicals' battery materials division and STM were transferred to Samsung SDI. STM remains a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung SDI.

EcoPro participated in the government project "Ultra-high Capacity Lithium Secondary Battery Development Consortium" led by Cheil Industries in 2004. When Cheil Industries exited the secondary battery materials business in 2006, EcoPro acquired related technologies and officially entered the cathode materials business. Samsung SDI strengthened its materials business by acquiring Cheil Industries in 2014. Samsung SDI and EcoPro have maintained a close relationship, establishing the cathode materials joint venture EcoPro EM with EcoPro BM in 2020.

Another holder of foundational NCM cathode patents is the global chemical company 3M. In 2000, 3M collaborated with Professor Jeff Dahn of Dalhousie University in Canada to register NCM patents, just three months after Argonne registered theirs. 3M's patent relates to the NCM111 composition (nickel, cobalt, manganese ratio of 1:1:1).

Unlike Argonne National Laboratory, which is a government entity, 3M, as a private company, understood the commercial value of this patent. 3M registered related patents not only in the U.S. but also in China, Japan, and Korea. Over several years, 3M asserted patent infringement claims against Sony, Matsushita, and Sanyo, leading to settlements.

Korean cathode material companies had no choice but to secure 3M's patent rights to operate stably in the global market. L&F and EcoPro signed license agreements with 3M in 2012 and 2013, respectively, and LG Chem followed in 2015. In 2014, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) confirmed the novelty of the NCM patents held by Argonne and 3M.

As the lithium-ion battery market expanded, patent wars intensified. Belgian leading materials company Umicore signed a license agreement with 3M in 2010 to resolve patent issues. However, BASF and Argonne did not recognize this. In March 2015, the two jointly filed a lawsuit against Umicore for infringing their patents.

Argonne's patent describes NCM as composed of two phases of distinct crystalline oxides. Argonne claimed that Umicore's cathode materials used their patents. In contrast, Umicore argued that their NCM was a single-phase solid solution protected by 3M's patents. In 2016, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) sided with BASF and Argonne. Ultimately, Umicore had to purchase patent rights from Argonne.

Subsequently, in 2017, Umicore acquired all NCM patents from 3M, expanding its cathode materials business. BASF and Umicore, once rivals, are now patent allies. In May 2021, the two signed a non-exclusive cross-license agreement to jointly use their battery cathode material patents. The agreement applies to over 100 patents filed in Korea, Europe, the U.S., China, and Japan.

In November 2023, SK On signed a comprehensive business agreement with BASF in the battery field. This agreement includes provisions related to cathode material usage. SK On is expected to receive cathode materials from BASF in the future.

Korean Companies Recently Faced High-Nickel Patent Attacks

Initially dependent on foreign technology, Korean NCM cathode material companies gradually developed their own capabilities. They focused on increasing the nickel content to enhance battery energy density. SK Innovation and LG Chem commercialized NCM622 (nickel 60%, cobalt 20%, manganese 20%) cathode materials in 2014 and 2017, respectively. EcoPro's cathode materials subsidiary, EcoPro BM, commercialized the world's first NCM811 (nickel 80%, cobalt 10%, manganese 10%) battery for electric vehicles in 2018, together with SK Innovation.

Korean NCM811 cathode materials incorporate Professor Sun Yang-guk's "concentration gradient" technology from Hanyang University. The concentration gradient means varying concentrations, with a higher nickel proportion at the cathode's center and higher manganese and cobalt proportions at the outer layers. This technology prevents cracking of cathode materials when increasing nickel content. EcoPro acquired the exclusive license for this technology from Hanyang University in 2009. EcoPro, Professor Sun's team, and Argonne National Laboratory jointly received the "2012 U.S. R&D 100 Award."

However, Korean high-nickel cathode materials still could not avoid foreign patents. In the past two to three years, Korean cathode material companies have successively signed patent license agreements with U.S.-based CAMX. Following Samsung SDI in 2020, LG Energy Solution signed in 2022, and L&F signed in May this year. The companies explain that CAMX's "GEMX platform" technology offers high performance and stability at low cost for high-nickel cathode materials. Belgian Umicore also signed a license agreement with CAMX in May.

Now the Next-Generation Battery Patent Wars

Korean companies, which faced attacks from many foreign companies over NCM batteries, are focusing on research and development (R&D) of next-generation batteries and securing intellectual property rights. Representative examples include lithium solid-state batteries, lithium metal batteries, and lithium-sulfur batteries.

The Korea Institute of Patent Strategy Development analyzed 114,984 patents filed from 2008 to June 2021 in 11 secondary battery categories (in Korea, the U.S., Japan, Europe, China, and the World Intellectual Property Organization). LG Chem ranked second in the number of patents held, following Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation (4,366 patents). LG Chem holds patents in the order of lithium solid-state batteries → lithium-sulfur batteries → lithium metal batteries → lithium-ion batteries.

Samsung Electronics holds many patents in lithium solid-state and metal-air batteries. Separately, Samsung SDI holds patents in the order of lithium-ion batteries → lithium metal batteries → lithium solid-state batteries → lithium-sulfur batteries.

The company with the most patents related to secondary batteries is Japan's Toyota Motor Corporation, holding many patents in the order of lithium solid-state batteries → lithium-ion batteries → metal-air batteries → lithium-sulfur batteries. Chinese companies CATL and BYD focus their patents on lithium-ion batteries. Hyundai Motor Company also holds many patents in lithium solid-state and lithium-sulfur batteries.

Notably, unlike the early days when Western countries like the U.S. dominated, most secondary battery patents are now held by Asian countries such as Korea, China, and Japan. This clearly shows that the global secondary battery industry will inevitably continue as a competitive landscape among these three countries.

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