Chinese solar module manufacturer JinkoSolar has filed a patent infringement action in the US District Court for the Northern District of California (San Francisco) against VSUN Solar USA, Toyo and its affiliates in the US and abroad.
JinkoSolar has not specified which proprietary patents have allegedly been infringed by VSUN and its affiliates. However, in its statement on this case, the company outlined that of the 2,800 issued patents it owns, 462 are related to n-type tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) technology.
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“JinkoSolar has earned its leadership position in the global solar module market through significant R&D investments and will vigorously defend its intellectual property against those who sell infringing products,” said Louise Lu, a patent litigation lawyer with the Perkins Coie law firm which represents JinkoSolar.
PV Tech reached out to VSUN for a comment regarding the alleged patent infringement.
TOPCon patent infringement lawsuits
JinkoSolar is the latest in a flurry of solar manufacturers to file a patent infringement lawsuit against a rival. In October, TrinaSolar filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Canadian Solar and three of its subsidiaries over an alleged infringement on two of its US patents regarding TOPCon module technology.
That same month, Trina filed a patent infringement complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) regarding TOPCon solar products being imported and solar by Chinese solar manufacturer Runergy and Indian conglomerate Adani Green Energy. The investigation has since moved forward, despite a petition from Runergy to the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to cancel the complaints.
Moreover, US-based cadmium telluride thin-film solar manufacturer First Solar recently investigated potential intellectual property infringement cases against five solar manufacturers – JinkoSolar, Canadian Solar, JA Solar, LONGi and Trina Solar – based on First Solar’s TOPCon patents.
