New York-based silicon ingot manufacturer Linton Crystal Technologies, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China’s Dalian Linton NC Machine, has filed a lawsuit in the Marshall Division of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, accusing Hangzhou-headquartered Jingsheng Mechanical & Electrical of infringing two of its Czochralski (CZ) crystal growth equipment patents.
Linton filed the complaint on 22 September, alleging that some of Jingsheng Mechanical & Electrical’s crystal growth equipment sold in the US infringes on patent numbers 11,255,024 and 11,814,746, both titled ‘Seed Lifting and Rotating System for Use in Crystal Growth,’. The seed lifting technology improves the lifting and rotation of seeds during the CZ crystal growth process, a necessary step in producing monocrystalline silicon ingots for use in PV manufacturing.
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The case was accepted by the Marshall Division of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on 23 September, and Jinsheng Mechanical & Electrical issued a notice regarding the litigation the following day. The case has not yet gone to trial, and no monetary damages have been specified in the lawsuit.
Jingsheng Mechanical & Electrical responded that, as of now, the company has not received formal litigation documents issued by the court related to the case.
“From a technical perspective, the company’s products adopt technical solutions entirely different from those recited in the patents involved, and there is no evidence that the company’s products infringe on these patent rights,” said the company in a statement.
The main business of Zhejiang Jingsheng Mechanical & Electrical is the research and development, production and sales of semiconductor equipment, semiconductor substrate materials, consumables and related components.
The company’s 2026 interim report stated that in H1 2026, the company achieved total operating revenue of RMB3.452 billion (US$514.4 million), a year-on-year decrease of 40.47%; net profit attributable to owners of the parent company was RMB232 million, a year-on-year decrease of 63.66%; net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was RMB102 million, a year-on-year decrease of 80.90%.
Dalian Linton NC Machine also posted lackluster financial results for the first half of this year. The financial report stated that in H1 2026, the company reported a net loss of RMB18.53 million after deducting non-recurring gains and losses; revenue decreased by 24.72% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to owners of the parent company was RMB19.10 million, a year-on-year decrease of 81.82%.
The lawsuit follows a number of patent disputes in the US solar sector, which have included a tracker tilt angle dispute between GameChange and Nextpower and two cell patent disputes involving Maxeon and Canadian Solar.
