Asian Tech Press (Nov 2) -- Nippon Steel Corp, the world's fifth-largest steelmaker, announced Thursday that it has decided to end its patent lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp. and Mitsui & Co. over electrical steel sheets and waive its claims.

In October 2021, Nippon Steel filed a lawsuit against Toyota and Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. (Baosteel), a subsidiary of China Baowu Steel Group, the world's largest steelmaker, in the Tokyo District Court for patent infringement on its non-oriented electrical steel sheets.

In December of that year, the Japanese steel company also sued Mitsui, which participated in relevant transactions, and filed additional lawsuits against Toyota.

Electrical steel sheets, also known as silicon steel, is the core raw material for electric vehicle (EV) traction motors, and are the key material which affects motor performance.

Nippon Steel said in a statement on Thursday that it had decided to terminate such lawsuits against Toyota and Mitsui.

However, the company said its lawsuits against Baosteel will continue.