Thin-film cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar module manufacturer First Solar plans to voluntarily withdraw its Section 337 complaint made to the US International Trade Commission (ITC) over alleged tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) intellectual property (IP) violations, while continuing to pursue US District Court lawsuits against alleged TOPCon infringers.
The US thin-film solar manufacturer intends to terminate the ongoing investigation with the ITC, which started earlier this year, without prejudice to refiling at a later date. This decision comes after the imposition of tariffs on polysilicon and its derivatives under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act.
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However, First Solar will continue to pursue its existing TOPCon patent lawsuits in the US District Court filed against manufacturers Jinko, Canadian Solar, T1 Energy and Trina Solar, which were stayed pending the results of the Section 337 investigation. All the companies, with the exception of T1 Energy, were among the solar manufacturers First Solar sought to pursue in 2024, when it first began investigating alleged IP infringement by competitors.
The thin-film solar manufacturer also said that it intends to keep enforcing its global patent portfolio against other manufacturers it believes infringe on its TOPCon patent portfolio, a process it paused following the Section 337 complaint.
“The Trump Administration’s Section 232 action helps level the playing field at the border, and we are more determined than ever to enforce our IP rights and defend the rule of law here at home,” said Jason Dymbort, general counsel, First Solar.
“This is a procedural decision that clears the way for our pending suits to move forward and for additional suits we anticipate filing, and we will continue to pursue any bad actors that infringe our patents.”
First Solar acquired the US TOPCon patents and its related international IP in 2013 when it acquired TetraSun. The patents include issued patents in the US, Australia, Canada, China and Japan, alongside the European Union and other countries. According to the US company, the validity of the patents extends to 2030 and beyond.
In addition to pursuing any alleged IP infringement, the thin-film CdTe solar manufacturer signed a licensing agreement for its TOPCon IP in the US with solar cell manufacturer Talon PV last year.
The patent litigations regarding TOPCon in the US has impacted the popularity of technologies in the US’ growing domestic solar manufacturing sector. Most of the currently operational US nameplate capacity for cells is for PERC technology, while the announced capacity has a fairly even split between PERC (11.8GW), TOPCon (13.1GW) and HJT (12.2GW), as highlighted earlier this month by PV Tech Research, despite the technical advantages of TOPCon over PERC.
The state of the US solar supply chain will be explored in detail at our annual PV CellTech conference in San Francisco on 13-14 October 2026. For the full agenda and details on booking, click the link above.
