Power optimiser provider Ampt has filed two lawsuits against SolarEdge in the US alleging patent infringement on power optimiser technology.
Ampt has filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) against SolarEdge requesting a ban on imports of SolarEdge’s power systems and components that infringe Ampt’s patents.
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At the same time, Ampt has filed a similar patent infringement action against SolarEdge in the US district court in Delaware that seeks a finding of patent infringement, “substantial” monetary damages and an injunction.
The patents describe ways of converting electrical power from a solar energy source to make it available for use in a variety of applications, according to Ampt, which said the infringing products are being manufactured in Israel, China, Vietnam and Hungary.
Ampt claims SolarEdge’s solar power systems unlawfully uses Ampt’s optimiser technology and infringes one or more claims from eight of Ampt’s US patents.
Levent Gun, CEO at Ampt, said: “We look forward to demonstrating to the ITC and the District Court that SolarEdge is violating our intellectual property and that the Commission should ban the import of the infringing SolarEdge products.”
In Ampt’s complaint to the ITC, the Colorado-based company has asked for an exclusion order banning imports to the US of SolarEdge’s product infringing Ampt’s patents as well as a ban on the sale of goods already imported in the US.
Among the products claimed by Ampt to infringe the patents are SolarEdge’s power optimisers for solar panels, inverters for power systems and solar power systems using both.
In response to the news, SolarEdge told PV Tech that “SolarEdge and Ampt have been litigating a dispute involving a patent family filed by SolarEdge and a patent family filed by Ampt before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for many years.”
“Recently, the USPTO awarded priority of invention to SolarEdge, cancelled the claims of Ampt’s patents, and awarded the patent claims in these Ampt patents to SolarEdge. While SolarEdge has not yet been served, it appears that having lost before the USPTO, Ampt is now shopping around its claims to other courts. SolarEdge anticipates a vigorous defense of these new cases.”
Ampt responded to SolarEdge’s comment saying “We are confident in our claims against SolarEdge and proud of our work to develop and field this patented, cost-saving technology. We look forward to making our case to the ITC and in federal court.”
In the ITC action, Ampt claims SolarEdge has infringed on the following US patents: Nos. 9,673,630 and 11,289,917. While in the Delaware district court, Ampt claims SolarEdge has infringed on the aforementioned patents as well as US patents Nos. 7,605,498, 7,719,140, 10,608,437, 10,886,746, 11,070,062 and 11,070,063.
This article was edited at 10:02 (UTC +1), Tuesday 2 August, to include Ampt’s response to SolarEdge’s comment.