The United States International Trade Commission (USITC or I.T.C.) said Friday that the preliminary ruling on EV battery patent lawsuit between LG Energy Solution Ltd. and SK Innovation Co. will be postponed to next month.

LG Energy Solution Ltd., the global leading supplier of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, has filed the patent infringement suit in September 2019, claiming that its local rival SK Innovation violated U.S. patents related its lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.

SK Innovation, a Korean company, as LG Energy Solution’s local rival, also accused it of infringing upon its EV battery patents in a separate suit in the same month.

USITC announced the delay on its official website, from the original date of March 19 (local time) to April 2. According to reports, with the postponement of the preliminary ruling, the final ruling will also be postponed by 2 weeks to August 2.

For the reason of the postponement, the ITC explained that it needs more time. Previously, the ITC has postponed its ruling several times on cases such as thefts of trade secrets and patent infringements between the two companies on the grounds of COVID-19 and others.