Xiaopeng Motors (XPEV/09868) has become the first Chinese automaker to be sued in the European Patent Court (UPC). Arcelor Mittal recently accused Xiaopeng Motors of infringing on its EP3290200 patent. If a settlement cannot be reached, Xiaopeng Motors will face the risk of a ban on sales in 18 European countries. Xiaopeng Motors responded today that they are in communication.
The EP3290200 patent covers "coated steel strip, its manufacturing method, its usage method, stamping blanks prepared from it, stamping products prepared from it, and products containing such stamping products". It is the core technology patent of aluminum silicon coated hot formed steel held by the Luxembourg based steel giant ArcelorMittal Group.
This lawsuit appears aggressive: in addition to various entities of Xiaopeng Motors, the 17 defendants also include dealers such as Moll based in Dusseldorf and Hedin based in Luxembourg. This is clearly a ban game.
Some believe that ArcelorMittal may hope to use this patent enforcement action to force Xiaopeng Motors to purchase certain steel products from them.
In China, this patent has sparked intense controversy. In May 2024, the Supreme People's Court upheld the first instance judgment and declared all patents of the same family as the patent in China invalid. The previous first instance also found that the invalid decision of the China National Intellectual Property Administration in July 2021 was correct. This ruling is undoubtedly a blow to ArcelorMittal, as it dominates the field of high-strength hot stamping steel plates based on this patent, which has a deterrent effect on related global enterprises.
The lawsuit against Xiaopeng Motors this time may be a reverse pressure from ArcelorMittal on Chinese steel companies. If a settlement cannot be reached with Chinese steel companies, especially the hot stamping plate supplier of Xiaopeng Motors, Xiaopeng Motors will face the risk of a ban on sales in 18 European countries. This is a severe test for Yu Xiaopeng Motors, and it also sounds the alarm for other Chinese automotive companies that use related unauthorized technologies.
Regarding the lawsuit, Xiaopeng Motors responded to the media today by stating that as a globally leading intelligent automotive technology enterprise, Xiaopeng Motors highly values intellectual property rights and always adheres to independent innovation. As of October 28, 2024, the company has applied for a total of 6212 patents and obtained 3206 authorized patents, forming a comprehensive protection system for our products in multiple fields such as autonomous driving, intelligent cockpit, automotive vehicles, and powertrain. Regarding ArcelorMittal's claim that the hot forming materials used in G9 products may infringe on its EP3290200 patent, Xiaopeng Motors' intellectual property team and procurement, manufacturing and other departments have already ensured through designated suppliers or raw material suppliers before exporting G9 products to avoid the use of hot forming materials with infringement risks in the target market. Xiaopeng Motors is in good communication with ArcelorMittal and requesting suppliers to verify the source of relevant materials and confirm that the materials provided meet the company's requirements.
It is worth mentioning that this is one of the relatively few cases in UPC's history where French has been chosen as the language of litigation, but Xiaopeng Motors may request a switch to English (the language of the patent). UPC is striving to achieve linguistic and geographical diversity. The typical UPC litigation currently takes place within the UK and Germany. English and German are sometimes considered interchangeable: the main UPC standard essential patent trial held in Munich this week was conducted in English, although written pleadings were submitted in German as the primary language, with only non binding English translations.