Recently, steel giant ArcelorMittal Group () filed a lawsuit with the Unified Patent Court of Europe, accusing Xpeng Motors of infringing on the legitimate rights of its patented technology. The defendants in this lawsuit also include a total of distributors from Düsseldorf, Germany, and Luxembourg, among others.

The data shows that ArcelorMittal applied for a patent on --, obtained European authorization on --, with an estimated expiration date of --, and the content is "a coated steel strip, its preparation method, its use method, the stamping blank prepared from it, the stamping product prepared from it, and products containing such stamping products", which is the core technology patent of aluminum-silicon coated hot-stamping steel held by the ArcelorMittal Group.

There are views suggesting that ArcelorMittal Group may be attempting to force companies like Xpeng Motors to purchase steel products from the group through this patent lawsuit. In response to the lawsuit, Xpeng Motors exclusively told First Financial News today that as a global leading intelligent automotive technology enterprise, Xpeng Motors places great emphasis on intellectual property rights and consistently adheres to independent innovation. As of the date, the company has accumulated applications for 10,000 patents, obtained authorization for 5,000 patents, and has formed a comprehensive protection system around autonomous driving, intelligent cockpit, automotive whole vehicles, and powertrain, among other areas, for its products.

Regarding ArcelorMittal's claim that the hot-stamping materials used in its products allegedly infringe on its patents, Xpeng Motors' intellectual property team, along with the procurement and manufacturing departments, had already ensured, through designated suppliers or raw material suppliers, to avoid using hot-stamping materials with infringement risks in the target market before the products were exported. Xpeng Motors is currently engaging in good communication with ArcelorMittal, while also requiring suppliers to verify the sources of the relevant materials and confirm that the provided materials meet the company's requirements.