Chinese PV manufacturer Trina Solar has filed a patent infringement complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) regarding tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar products being imported and sold by branches of Chinese PV manufacturer Runergy and Indian firm Adani Green Energy.
Trina has called on the commission to open an investigation on patents relating to the solar cells used in these products, and the method of manufacturing those cells.
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The news follows previous filings made by Trina Solar on 10 May and 10 September this year, federal district court infringement suits in which Trina sought money and an order prohibiting Runergy from selling the allegedly patent-infringing products in the US.
In the new ITC filing, Trina seeks a limited exclusion order and cease-and-desist orders blocking Runergy and Adani from importing the allegedly infringing TOPCon products into the US.
A lawyer familiar with patent law in the solar industry told PV Tech that patent holders tend to favour the ITC when dealing with defendants based outside the US because the ITC usually moves more quickly than federal courts. The federal district court cases will likely be stayed by the defendants as a matter of right, the lawyer adds.
In its Public Interest Statement, Trina argues that US consumers would not be affected by the remedial orders because other manufacturers not only have a large diversity of solar technologies available but also have adequate manufacturing capacity to replace the volume of any of the accused products.
Trina also mentioned that with the pace of capacity additions in global PV manufacturing, the industry is rushing into a supply glut where capacity outweighs demand, with geographies including Europe having to stockpile excess panels.
Earlier this year saw a spate of PV infringement proceedings. For example, JA Solar filed a patent infringement proceeding against an undisclosed competing module manufacturer before Europe’s Unified Patent Court in August.
Trina owns more than 2,000 patents, including many TOPCon technology patents, in addition to Passivated Emitter Rear Cell (PERC) and Heterojunction (HJT) patents. The firm is actively reviewing possible patent infringements by other manufacturers supplying the US market.
