Nippon Steel sues to ban Toyota cars from Chinese steel
Nippon Steel Corporation said on Thursday it had filed claims for damages in Tokyo District Court against Chinese steelmaker Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. (Baosteel) and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota), respectively, claiming that they infringed Nippon Steel's patent on non-oriented electrical steel sheets.
In order to secure the claims, the Japanese metallurgical company demanded a ban on the production and sale of Toyota vehicles made with Chinese steel.
Nippon Steel has estimated its patent infringement losses at approximately 20 billion yen (approximately $ 176 million).
“Nippon Steel held discussions with each of Baosteel and Toyota, believing that these companies had infringed a patent on non-oriented electrical steel sheets, which are indispensable materials for electric vehicles; however, Nippon Steel was unable to resolve this issue through negotiations, ”the company said in a statement.
Non-oriented electrical steel sheets are considered a “multifunctional material” with significantly improved magnetic properties, which are realized through a special manufacturing process. Electrical steel sheet is widely used as cores for power generators in power plants, electrical products, motor vehicles, and even in vibration motors of mobile phones.