Nickel Hydride No. 5 batteries

　　Nickel Hydride No. 5 batteries life and death crisis: There are hidden worries in the patented technology of ternary materials

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

　　So, what is the current status of the domestic lithium battery ternary material patent technology layout?

　　Core patents require "overtaking in corners"

　　Some professionals have made 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, and there is a lack of basic and core patents. There is still a big gap with Japanese and Korean companies, and the American 3M Company.

　　For example, on November 15, 2005, 3M Company obtained the U.S. patent US6964828B2 and its related patent CN100403585C, which were authorized for NiCoMn ternary materials. They mainly limited the Ni content in NiCoMn and became the basic core patent of ternary materials, which has restricted it to this day. Leading the development of ternary materials in China's lithium battery industry.

　　Secondly, the patents surrounding ternary material modification are mainly to improve electrochemical performance, but safety and cost issues have not been effectively broken through. In contrast to the rapid growth of invention patents for improving electrochemical performance, the number of applications for ternary materials has grown slowly in terms of safety and cost reduction. This also shows that when R&D investment has increased significantly and battery safety is very important, the safety and cost issues of ternary materials have not been effectively broken through.

　　Take the invention patent "Preparation method of titanium sol coating modified ternary cathode material" of a domestic research institute as an example. This invention patent modifies the ternary cathode material by optimizing the coating process, which can effectively improve the first Coulomb test of the material. efficiency and discharge specific capacity, but there is no significant improvement in other aspects such as the material's cycle performance. Moreover, the coating process also uses a large amount of alcohol, which requires high process equipment and workshop conditions (explosion-proof workshop). The recycling of alcohol also requires additional processing costs.

　　Based on the above analysis, Battery China Network believes that there are two points that domestic cathode material companies need to focus on: First, domestic ternary material patent applications are relatively scattered, especially leading companies are less involved, and the overall research atmosphere is not strong. Domestic companies need to pay attention to cathode materials. The research and development of materials and the protection of intellectual property rights; secondly, there is great room for development in terms of safety and cost issues of ternary materials. The layout of foreign applicants is not perfect. If domestic companies can increase R&D investment in these aspects and master core patents as early as possible, they will be able to achieve "overtaking in the corner" in the field of ternary materials.

　　Patent licensing may be a helpless move

　　There is consensus in the industry that in addition to domestic cathode material companies actively attaching importance to independent research and development and the protection of intellectual property rights, patent licensing between companies is also an option for sustainable development of the industry. Battery China Network found that the recent patent layout of cathode material companies is as follows:

　　In January 2018 and November 2017, BASF announced respectively that it had granted Ruixiang New Materials and Peking University Xianxian sublicenses for patents related to the nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) cathode material of the Argonne National Laboratory in the United States. After authorization, the two companies can manufacture, use, sell, offer for sale, distribute and import nickel cobalt manganese cathode materials in the U.S. market.

　　On January 29, Dow Chemical Company signed a technology license agreement with Shanghai Huayi (Group) Company, under which Dow will non-exclusively license two core cathode material technologies for lithium-ion batteries: lithium iron manganese phosphate (LMFP) and lithium nickel Manganese cobalt oxide (NMC).

　　Judging from the above licensing information, as domestic power battery 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 harsh foreign regulations. qualification review.

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

　　In fact, very few domestic ternary material companies purchase patents. There are two main reasons: first, the cost of patent purchase 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 taking chances.

　　Industry insiders believe that patent licensing and patent disputes between domestic and foreign companies will become more and more normal. 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. .

　　There is no doubt that only by eliminating the risk of patent infringement can domestic ternary materials companies become bigger and stronger on a global scale.

　　Never forget the past, those who are familiar with the development of the domestic lithium battery industry must still remember the "patent invalidation case" in the lithium iron phosphate battery industry in 2012 - three companies including Hydro-Québec in Canada claimed to have patents for lithium iron phosphate battery technology company, the China Patent Reexamination Board’s ruling that its patented technology for lithium iron phosphate batteries is invalid is invalid.

　　It is understood that the patent application of the Canadian company covers almost all aspects of the current lithium iron phosphate battery production technology. If we follow this patent, most domestic battery manufacturers will be infringing it. 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 price demanded by foreign parties is also very high: a one-time patent entry fee of US$10 million or US$2,500 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.

　　However, the many experiences and lessons learned in this case are worthy of consideration by colleagues in the domestic lithium battery industry. Under the current hot development situation of new energy vehicles, top-ranking companies in the domestic lithium battery industry, especially leading companies that are interested in participating in international market competition, should take this as a lesson and deploy core patented technologies of ternary materials in a more long-term and strategic manner. .

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