Image source: Visual China

Interface News Reporter |

The

patent turmoil in the photovoltaic industry has risen again, this time affecting the two leading companies.

On January 3, JinkoSolar (688223.SH) said it had sued LONGi Green Energy (601012.SH) in the Nanchang Intermediate People's Court. JinkoSolar demanded that the latter immediately stop infringing the relevant invention patent rights and compensate for economic losses, and the case has been formally filed.

Subsequently, Jiemian News called the board office of LONGi Green Energy, and the other party responded that he had just seen the relevant content, and the specific information was still being verified and understood internally.

According to Jiemian News, the lawsuit is about TOPCon-related technologies.

"As a leader in TOPCon technology, JinkoSolar has one of the largest number of patent applications and authorizations in the PV industry." JinkoSolar said it encourages a win-win situation for the industry through patent licensing and paid use, but also supports a resolute crackdown on the practice of "using it without saying hello".

Jiemian News consulted the above-mentioned civil case from the Tianyancha website, the case number is (2024) Gan 01 Zhi Min Chu No. 36, the plaintiff in the first instance is Shangrao Xinyuan Yuedong Technology Development Co., Ltd., and the defendants are LONGi Green Energy and Jiangxi Shangwei Technology Co., Ltd. The case will be heard on February 13 at 14:30 p.m.

Shangrao Xinyuan Yuedong Technology Development Co., Ltd. was established in July 2022 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of JinkoSolar, and its legal representative is Li Xiande, chairman of JinkoSolar.

In addition to LONGi Green Energy, the other defendant, Jiangxi Shangwei Technology Co., Ltd., was established in August last year, with Li Songsong as a legal person, and is an enterprise mainly engaged in software and information technology services.

Image source: Tianyancha

In the past two years, patent friction in the photovoltaic industry has gradually increased.

Last year, JA Solar (002459.SZ) and Chint New Energy had a dispute over the patent issue of TOPCon cell technology; Trina Solar (688599.SH) and Canadian Solar (688472.SH) and Runyang Co., Ltd. had a dispute over patent issues; Maxeon, a subsidiary of TCL Zhonghuan (002129.SZ), has friction with Aiko (600732.SH) and Tongwei (600438.SH) over BC technology and shingling patents.

At the national level, there is also a gradual emphasis on photovoltaic patent issues.

In November last year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) officially issued new regulations for the photovoltaic manufacturing industry, and the "Standard Conditions for the Photovoltaic Manufacturing Industry (2024 Edition)" focused on strengthening the importance of intellectual property protection. It proposes that enterprises should have core patents that are applied to their main business and realize industrialization, and the products developed and produced should comply with the laws and regulations on intellectual property protection, and there has been no infringement by the patent enforcement agency in the past three years, and enterprises are encouraged to improve the construction of relevant systems in accordance with the "Requirements for Enterprise Intellectual Property Compliance Management System".

Executives of LONGi Green Energy and JinkoSolar have also frequently emphasized the protection of patents in public.

In January 2024, JinkoSolar officially announced that it would collect royalties for TOPCon technology patents. The company previously revealed to Jiemian News that one of the world's top 10 module manufacturers and one of the world's top five battery manufacturers have paid patent royalties to Jinko.

Qian Jing, vice president of JinkoSolar, publicly stated that JinkoSolar attaches great importance to the strategic value of patents, and tries to avoid falling into a lose-lose, time-consuming and labor-intensive patent war through authorized use, cross-licensing, patent pooling, etc., and resolutely cracks down on unauthorized and improper use.

To this end, JinkoSolar has established a patent strategy, including actively building a high-value patent portfolio around the world to protect its research and innovation results; Reasonable fees, building a patent portfolio with high barriers and commercial value, etc. Qian Jing did not disclose the scale of licensing fees, but she said that she would provide a reasonable price benchmark for the industry to use her patented technology fairly and reasonably.

Zhong Baoshen, chairman of LONGi Green Energy, also publicly stated that the development of the industry should be orderly, and part of it needs to rely on intellectual property rights. IP rights should be acquired in a way that complies with business guidelines and legal requirements in order for the industry to move forward in a healthy and sustainable way.

"Nowadays, the country's emphasis on intellectual property rights has reached an unprecedented height, and the attitude of companies has also changed, and enterprises will actively declare intellectual property rights and seek protection. On the other hand, the company will also adopt a positive and open attitude to promote the development of the industry and cooperate with everyone openly. Zhong Baoshen said.

At present, most of the patent disputes in the domestic photovoltaic industry end in settlement.

At the end of December, Maxeon and TW Solar (Hefei) reached a global settlement over shingled solar cell and module technology and related patent disputes between the two parties, effective November 30, 2024. This means that the patent war between the two companies, which has lasted for a year and a half, has come to an important end.