The European Patent Office (EPO) “upheld as valid” a patent held by Chinese PV manufacturer JA Solar last week, on 2 October, following the filing of a TOPCon patent infringement lawsuit.
“The EPO has upheld the patent in accordance with the main request of JA Solar, and the independent claims of the patent have not been amended,” said JA Solar in a statement; the company also noted that appeals can also be made against this decision.
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JA Solar filed two lawsuits at the German offices of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) against fellow Chinese solar manufacturer Astronergy in July, which manages disputes relating to patents for EU member states, and the patents were validated by the court earlier this year.
While JA Solar did not specify if Astronergy is the defendant in both lawsuits, it named the company as potentially infringing patent EP2787541B1, which relates to the structure of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cells. A final decision has not yet been reached on either lawsuit.
The news follows the filing of a number of lawsuits in the global solar sector. Over the summer, a lawsuit was filed against Maxeon for alleged damages to investors, and Tigo Energy filed a suit against Zhejiang Benyi for potential copyright infringement over its rapid shutdown technology. This week, Runergy called on US authorities to “cancel’ two patent infringement complaints filed by Trina Solar, as manufacturers are increasingly keen to protect what they consider to be their intellectual property from potential competitors.
The headline and opening of this story have been updated to reflect the publication of new information.
