- Chinese module maker Trina Solar has filed a complaint for patent infringement in the US District Court for the District of Delaware lawsuit against three unspecified units of competitor Canadian Solar.
Canadian Solar has revealed that the patent litigation involves two unspecified US patents held by Trina related to TOPCon solar module technology.
“Canadian Solar respects and takes very seriously its own intellectual property rights and those of third parties,” said Adam Walters, general counsel Americas for Canadian Solar’s modules and systems solutions business. “In our view, this is a frivolous lawsuit, and we expect the court will find that our proprietary TOPCon technology does not infringe on the patents claimed by Trina.”
Canadian Solar has recently faced similar patent claims in the United States. In March, Singapore-based Maxeon filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the company in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Maxeon previously sued Canadian Solar in Japan for patent infringement in 2020. In the lawsuit, Maxeon alleged that Canadian Solar Japan infringed upon its Japan Patent No. JP6642841B2, which is related to its shingled solar modules. The two companies reached a settlement in April 2022.
In addition, PV manufacturer Solaria has filed three different patent infringement claimsagainst the company in the past, all related to the process of separating photovoltaic strips from solar cells for use in shingled modules.
Earlier this month, Trina Solar filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC), alleging that Runergy and Adani Green Energy had improperly imported and sold projects that infringe on its patents for TOPCon solar cells.
Trina Solar holds more than 2,000 patents, including for TOPCon and heterojunction (HJT) solar cell types. It is currently developing a 5 GW manufacturing base in Wilmer, Texas.
Author: Emiliano Bellini
This article was originally published in pv magazine and is republished with permission.
