A brief introduction to the patented technology of lithium battery ternary materials

　　Under the hot industry trend of ternary lithium batteries, especially high-nickel ternary, many domestic cathode material companies are facing huge foreign patent fees in their development. Regarding this issue, the association will hold a seminar in the near future to take countermeasures to alleviate the cost pressure in the development of the enterprise.

　　A few days ago, at the Sixth Council Meeting of the Sixth Session of the China Chemical and Physical Power Industry Association, Secretary-General Liu Yanlong specifically emphasized the patented technology layout of lithium battery ternary materials. He pointed out that under the hot industry trend of ternary lithium batteries, especially high-nickel ternary, many domestic cathode material companies are facing huge foreign patent fees in their development. Regarding this issue, the association will hold a seminar in the near future to take countermeasures to alleviate the cost pressure in the development of the enterprise.　　 So, what is the current status of the domestic lithium battery ternary material patent technology layout? Core patents should be “overtaking on a curve”. Professionals have conducted statistics on domestic and foreign patents in the field of ternary materials. The results show that: First of all, the development of domestic ternary materials started late, and basic and core patents are lacking. There is still a big gap between companies. For example, on November 15, 2005, 3M obtained the US patent US6964828B2 and its family of patents CN100403585C for NiCoMn ternary material authorization, which mainly limited the content of Ni in NiCoMn, which became the basic core patent for ternary materials. The development of ternary materials in China’s lithium battery industry.　　Secondly, the patents surrounding the modification of ternary materials are mainly to improve the electrochemical performance, but the 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 the safety and cost reduction of ternary materials has been increasing slowly. This also shows that under the condition that 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. Take the invention patent "Preparation method of titanium sol-coated 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-time coulomb of the material. Efficiency and discharge specific capacity, but there is no obvious improvement in other aspects such as the cycle performance of the material. In addition, a large amount of alcohol is used in the coating process, 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.com believes that there are two points that domestic cathode material companies need to pay attention to: 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 cathodes. The research and development of materials and the protection of intellectual property rights; second, there is a large room for development in the safety and cost of ternary materials. The layout of foreign applicants is not perfect. If domestic enterprises can increase R&D investment in these areas and master core patents as soon as possible, it is possible to achieve "curving overtaking" in the field of ternary materials.　　Patent licensing or helplessness　　The consensus in the industry is that in addition to actively attaching importance to independent research and development and protection of intellectual property rights, domestic cathode material companies should also license patents between companies as an option for sustainable industrial development. Battery China.com found that the recent layout of the patents of cathode material companies is as follows: 　　 In January 2018 and November 2017, BASF announced the award of Ruixiang New Materials and Peking University in the lead on the nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) cathode materials of the American Argonne National Laboratory. Sub-licensing of related patents. After authorization, the two companies can manufacture, use, sell, promise to sell, distribute and import nickel-cobalt-manganese cathode materials in the US market. On January 29, the Dow Chemical Company and Shanghai Huayi (Group) Company signed a technology licensing agreement, and Dow non-exclusively authorized two core technologies of cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries: lithium iron manganese phosphate (LMFP) and lithium nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (NMC). Judging from the above-mentioned licensing information, as domestic power battery and ternary materials companies accelerate their entry into the international market, some domestic ternary materials companies have to strengthen their patent layouts to obtain relevant operating freedom and cooperate with battery customers to deal with the harshness of foreign countries. Qualification certification. Tang Shunguo, Chairman and General Manager of Ruixiang New Materials, stated, “We highly respect intellectual property rights and attach importance to the patent sub-licensing of nickel-cobalt-manganese cathode materials. This sub-license is of great strategic significance for us and our downstream customers. "　　 In fact, very few domestic ternary materials companies purchase patents. There are two main reasons: one is the high cost of patent purchases, and SMEs can hardly afford it; second, the domestic policy is relatively loose, especially the relevant legal system is not perfect, and some companies have a fluke mentality. 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, speeding up patent layout is a necessary guarantee for the sustainable development of the industry .　　The life and death of lithium iron phosphate enlightenment　　There is no doubt that domestic ternary materials companies can eliminate the risk of patent infringement litigation before they can become bigger and stronger on a global scale. People who are familiar with the development of the domestic lithium battery industry must remember the “patent invalidation case” in the lithium iron phosphate battery industry in 2012-Canada Quebec Hydropower and other three companies claimed to have patents for lithium iron phosphate battery technology The company sued the China Patent Reexamination Board for invalidation of its lithium iron phosphate battery patent technology.　　 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 you follow this patent, most domestic battery manufacturers are infringing. Moreover, if the foreign party wins the lawsuit, 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 foreign party's asking price is also very high: a one-time payment of US$10 million in patent entry fees or US$2500 per ton of lithium iron phosphate. Fortunately, this patent lawsuit, which was crucial to the development of China's lithium iron phosphate battery industry and the new energy automobile industry, ended in failure.　　 However, the many experiences and lessons in this lawsuit are worthy of consideration by colleagues in the domestic lithium battery industry. Under the current fierce development of new energy vehicles, the top-ranked enterprises in the domestic lithium battery industry, especially the leading enterprises aspiring to participate in the international market competition, should use this as a lesson and deploy the core patented technology of ternary materials in a more long-term and strategic manner. .