Germany-based PV materials manufacturer Heraeus has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Taiwan-based PV materials specialist Giga Solar Materials Corp for allegedly infringing a patent held by Heraeus over front-side metallisation paste materials used for solar cells.
In its complaint filed at the Intellectual Property Court in Taipei, Taiwan, the company claimed that Giga Solar sold three series of its patented front-side silver pastes to cell manufacturers in Taiwan.
The patent TWI432539 covers the use of leaded and lead free tellurium glasses in the production of metallisation pastes.
Andreas Liebheit, head of Heraeus Photovoltaics Global Business Unit, said Heraeus invests heavily in developing innovative metallisation pastes and said the advances made by the company benefits the PV industry by improving solar cell technology.
He added: “Our in-depth paste manufacturing knowledge and expertise are protected with strong patents to ensure that our customers can rely on Heraeus as a long-term industry leading supplier for advanced metallisation solutions.”
