Context: JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd., a leading Chinese solar panel manufacturer, has been embroiled in disputes around the world as a defendant, successfully fighting off patent infringement allegations in the ITC and the United States District Court of Delaware. The company is also currently involved in two more cases as a defendant – in Australia and Germany – but is not alone. The solar panel market, estimated to be valued at US$175 billion in 2023, has seen an increasing number of patent infringement disputes across the world, including one campaign filed by U.S. manufacturer First Solar against four Chinese rivals and one in Canada last month.
What’s new: JinkoSolar has filed a patent infringement complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (December 7, 2024 press release by JinkoSolar) against VSUN Solar USA Inc, a major Japanese renewable energy company, and its affiliates. The Chinese manufacturer is seeking a “preliminary and permanent injunction (PI) preventing any further infringement”.
Direct impact and wider ramifications: A recent statement by the company’s Vice President suggests JinkoSolar will be taking a more offensive approach in its patent strategy. However, at the moment, the company is only suing the Japanese company in the U.S., and it is unclear whether it has or will file actions in any other of its major jurisdictions, such as China or Japan. This case is certainly one to watch though as it adds to a big wave of actions being filed by solar panel manufacturers across the world.
The complaint, filed on December 6, accuses VSUN and its affiliates Abalance Corporation, WWB Corporation, Fuji Solar Co., Ltd., Vietnam Sunergy Joint Stock Company, Vietnam Sunergy Company Limited, Toyo Co. Ltd, and Vietnam Sunergy Cell Company Limited, of infringing JinkoSolar’s following N-type tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cell patents:
·U.S. Patent No. 11,581,454 (“Solar cell, manufacturing method thereof, and photovoltaic module”)
·U.S. Patent No. 11,824,136 (“Solar cell, manufacturing method thereof, and photovoltaic module”)
The company alleges that the solar panel products that infringe on JinkoSolar’s patents are displayed on VSUN’s website and have been sold in at least the following places: Manheim, Pennsylvania and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden in Ohio. JinkoSolar is seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction preventing VSUN from any further infringement. A more detailed PI motion is expected to be filed soon explaining why JinkoSolar believes it satisfies the legal requirements for one. The company’s complaint also seeks damages of an unspecified amount and a trial by jury.
JinkoSolar is represented by Louise Lu, Miguel Bombach, and Abigail Gardner at Perkins Coie. In a statement, Mrs Lu said:
“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.”
JinkoSolar was founded in 2006 and became the world’s largest photovoltaic module manufacturer in 2023. It holds the leading position in the N-type TOPCon segment and currently manages a portfolio of over 460 patents related to that technology – with over 2,280 patents granted in the wider solar panel field. In a recent statement, the company’s Vice President Dany Qian said:
“While we will remain an intellectual property powerhouse with one of the strongest solar PV patent portfolios, as part of our innovation strategy, we are taking a more focused and selective approach to patenting.”
Mr Qian said the company currently uses its patents “defensively”, or as a way to dissuade rivals from filing patent infringement lawsuits by threatening to file its own patent suits, but it will soon be opening its portfolio for licensing.
Solar panel market heating up
This week’s lawsuit comes against a background of an increasingly litigious solar panel market.
JinkoSolar, for starters, was sued for patent infringement by Korean rival Hanwha Q Cells & Advanced Materials Corp. (Hanwha) in the U.S. ITC, the United States District Court of Delaware, Germany’s Düsseldorf Regional Court and the Federal Court of Australia. The defendant was successful in the first two cases (June 23, 2020 Fish & Richardson press release) but the latter two are still pending in court. Hanwha also launched litigation against China’s LONGi Green Energy in courts in the U.S., Germany, Australia, France and the Netherlands, before the two settled with a patent cross-licensing agreement in 2023.
Hanwha is also acting as a defendant alongside Norway’s REC Solar Holdings AS in a separate case filed by Singapore-based solar module manufacturer Maxeon in April in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Last month, it emerged that U.S. solar manufacturer First Solar had launched a patent infringement campaign against four major Chinese solar manufacturers and one in Canada. As well as targeting JinkoSolar, FirstSolar has sued Canadian Solar, JA Solar, LONGi Green Energy, and Trina Solar. The complaints also allege the infringement of patents related to TOPCon solar cell technology. First Solar’s Chief Executive Officer Mark Widmar stated on the company’s earnings call in October that First Solar has “begun to leverage” its portfolio “as part of [their] ongoing efforts to develop the next generation of PV technologies”.
