FAST NEWS: CALB Slapped With $5.3 Million Patent Infringement Fine

The latest: Electric vehicle (EV) battery maker CALB Co. Ltd. (3931.HK) announced Tuesday the Intermediate People’s Court of Fuzhou City ordered it to stop selling a lithium-ion battery that infringes on a patent owned by CATL (300750.SZ), and to pay 36.8 million yuan ($5.3 million) in damages.

Looking up: The judgment is not final and CALB will appeal to the Supreme People’s Court. Accounting standards don’t require the company to carry out corresponding accounting treatment related to the verdict while the appeal is pending.

Take Note: CATL has filed six intellectual property infringement lawsuits against CALB, and the case in the latest announcement is only one of those. That means the dispute between the companies is far from over.

Digging Deeper: Founded in 2015, CALB’s business covers lithium-ion power batteries, battery management systems, energy storage batteries and related products and services. It raised HK$10.1 billion ($1.3 billion) when it listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange last October. The company’s major customers include Guangzhou Automobile, Chang’an Automobile, Leapmotor and XPeng. CALB ranked third in China based on its power battery sales, with a market share of 5.9%, far below the 52.1% and 16.2% for larger rivals CATL and BYD Co. (1211.HK), respectively.

Market Reaction: CALB shares fell on Wednesday, closing down 4.3% at HK$21.15 by the midday break. The stock now trades 44.3% below its IPO price of HK$38 from last October.

Translation by Jony Ho

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