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patent agreement shows importance of IP in cathode industry","basf-umicore-patent-agreement-shows-importance-of-ip-in-cathode-industry","article/basf-umicore-patent-agreement-shows-importance-of-ip-in-cathode-industry",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":566,"content":576,"excerpt":678,"featured":50,"reporter":679,"_editable":683,"component":684,"seo_title":553,"categories":685,"visibility":691,"author_company":49,"featured_image":692,"seo_description":678,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":697,"formattedArticleDate":698},"b8870521-630c-4dce-aca8-bf8927dac0cd","2021-05-27 00:00",[560,563],{"slug":561,"name":562},"basf","BASF",{"slug":564,"name":565},"umicore","Umicore",[567],{"slug":568,"name":569,"content":570},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":571,"image":572,"bio":574,"linkedin":575},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":573},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":577,"content":578},"doc",[579,586,591,596,601,606,611,616,621,626,633,638,643,648,653,658,663,668,673],{"type":580,"attrs":581,"content":582},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[583],{"text":584,"type":585},"This May, European cathode producers BASF and Umicore entered into a non-exclusive patent cross-license agreement for a range of cathode and precursor materials.","text",{"type":580,"attrs":587,"content":588},{"textAlign":49},[589],{"text":590,"type":585},"The agreement covers over 100 patent families filed globally and covers NCM, NCA and high manganese cathode materials and provides both companies with access to a wider range of cathode technologies.",{"type":580,"attrs":592,"content":593},{"textAlign":49},[594],{"text":595,"type":585},"The deal highlights the important role intellectual property plays in the cathode industry and the risks it poses to both cathode producers and their customers.",{"type":580,"attrs":597,"content":598},{"textAlign":49},[599],{"text":600,"type":585},"Another significant patent development on the horizon is for LFP cathodes.",{"type":580,"attrs":602,"content":603},{"textAlign":49},[604],{"text":605,"type":585},"Key patents for LFP cathode technology outside of China will expire towards the end of the year and will potentially lead to LFP production in new regions as producers scramble for market share. This could open up LFP offerings to western automakers should they develop plans to utilise the cathode in lower cost electric vehicles.",{"type":580,"attrs":607,"content":608},{"textAlign":49},[609],{"text":610,"type":585},"Looking at Europe, the LFP market for EVs remains very small and the vast majority of megafactories in production or in the pipeline are planning for high nickel cathode chemistries.",{"type":580,"attrs":612,"content":613},{"textAlign":49},[614],{"text":615,"type":585},"However, while capacity buildout in Europe has been focused on high nickel cathode materials, western automakers have been signalling their intention to use LFP cathodes in future models.",{"type":580,"attrs":617,"content":618},{"textAlign":49},[619],{"text":620,"type":585},"At Volkswagen’s Power Day in March, the company outlined its intention to use LFP technology in its mass-market, low-cost, unified cells. Meanwhile Tesla has already begun to use LFP cathodes in its standard range Model 3s, albeit in China, and Elon Musk has regularly professed the benefits of LFP cathodes.",{"type":580,"attrs":622,"content":623},{"textAlign":49},[624],{"text":625,"type":585},"Currently LFP production and capacity growth is centred in China, but from 2022 onwards, with the expiry of key patents and Western automakers showing a willingness to commit a proportion of their vehicles to LFP technology, this status quo could be disrupted.",{"type":627,"attrs":628,"content":630},"heading",{"level":629,"textAlign":49},4,[631],{"text":632,"type":585},"A changing cathode landscape",{"type":580,"attrs":634,"content":635},{"textAlign":49},[636],{"text":637,"type":585},"Prior to this month’s agreement between BASF and Umicore there was a 2015-16 patent dispute between the two companies which saw the US International Trade Commission (ITC) determine that Umicore had infringed on BASF and Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) patents in the USA.",{"type":580,"attrs":639,"content":640},{"textAlign":49},[641],{"text":642,"type":585},"In response to the infringement, the ITC imposed an exclusion order which banned the importation of Umicore’s NCM materials to the US market. However, by April 2017, BASF and Argonne agreed to resolve the dispute which allowed Umicore to produce, sell and distribute NCM materials in the USA under BASF and Argonne’s patents.",{"type":580,"attrs":644,"content":645},{"textAlign":49},[646],{"text":647,"type":585},"Since the BASF-Umicore US patent dispute began playing out in 2015 the cathode demand picture has changed dramatically. During that time global battery production has increased 6x and the number of megafactories in the pipeline or production has grown from single figures to 211 according to Benchmark’s Lithium ion Battery Database.",{"type":580,"attrs":649,"content":650},{"textAlign":49},[651],{"text":652,"type":585},"As the cathode industry has expanded to meet this new demand landscape, China’s share of cathode production has increasingly dominated the supply chain.",{"type":580,"attrs":654,"content":655},{"textAlign":49},[656],{"text":657,"type":585},"In 2015, 57 % of global cathode production was in China and this will have increased to 64% by the end of 2021. Data from Benchmark’s Cathode Market Assessment shows that this trend will continue as 82% of global cathode capacity under construction and 88% of planned global capacity is located on the Chinese mainland.",{"type":580,"attrs":659,"content":660},{"textAlign":49},[661],{"text":662,"type":585},"While some of this capacity is owned by non-Chinese companies — such as Umicore’s existing NCM operations in Jiangmen, Guangdong Province — the bulk of expansions have been driven by Chinese-owned entities.",{"type":580,"attrs":664,"content":665},{"textAlign":49},[666],{"text":667,"type":585},"With an increasingly competitive cathode market —driven by low-cost and low-price Chinese production— the resources required to deal with patent disputes, along with their associated risks, could be a drag on profitability.",{"type":580,"attrs":669,"content":670},{"textAlign":49},[671],{"text":672,"type":585},"In this environment, this month’s patent agreement between BASF and Umicore could be viewed as an acknowledgement that the main challenge to both companies is from Chinese cathode producers.",{"type":580,"attrs":674,"content":675},{"textAlign":49},[676],{"text":677,"type":585},"Intellectual property will be critical for cathode manufacturers looking to develop and protect their own operations in Europe.","This May, European cathode producers BASF and Umicore entered into a non-exclusive patent cross-license agreement for a range of cathode and precursor materials. The agreement covers over 100 patent families filed globally and covers NCM, NCA and high manganese cathode materials and provides both companies with access to a wider range of cathode technologies. The […]",[680],{"slug":568,"name":569,"content":681},{"job_title":571,"image":682,"bio":574,"linkedin":575},{"filename":573},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"b8870521-630c-4dce-aca8-bf8927dac0cd\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[686,689],{"slug":687,"name":688},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":690,"name":300},"cathode","private",{"id":49,"alt":693,"name":693,"focus":693,"title":693,"source":693,"filename":694,"copyright":693,"fieldtype":695,"meta_data":696,"is_external_url":51},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/d8bbb45a28/bm-umicore-basf-patent-agreement.jpg","asset",{"alt":693,"title":693,"source":693,"copyright":693},"May 27, 2021","27th May 2021",[],[],1789748871090]