The battle for photovoltaic patents is intensifying. The Paper learned that JinkoSolar (688223. SH) has recently sued LONGi Green Energy (601012.SH) in the Nanchang Intermediate People's Court, demanding that LONGi Green Energy immediately stop infringing the relevant invention patent rights and compensate for economic losses, and the case has been formally filed and accepted.

The two sides belong to the first echelon of the industry, and have staged the most fierce confrontation in the photovoltaic patent war that has been common in the past two years.

Regarding the details of this matter, JinkoSolar introduced to The Paper that the relevant patents involved include solar cells and their preparation methods, photovoltaic modules, solar cell module invention patents, etc., involving TOPCon cell technology and module technology.

"We have paid attention to the media reports of the so-called 'patent infringement' sued by Jinko, but we have not yet received the relevant legal documents." LONGi Green Energy responded to The Paper on January 4. The person said that as one of the enterprises with the largest number of patents in the photovoltaic field, LONGi has a relatively complete layout in various technical routes, and also respects the intellectual property rights of other companies. "We will actively investigate and respond, and if necessary, we will also file counterclaims against TOPCon and other technology products."

Tianyancha shows that LONGi Green Energy has recently added a new civil case, the relevant cause of action is a dispute over infringement of invention patent rights, the plaintiff is Shangrao Xinyuan Yuedong Technology Development Co., Ltd., and the defendants are LONGi Green Energy and Jiangxi Shangwei Technology Co., Ltd. Shangrao Xinyuan is a wholly-owned subsidiary of JinkoSolar, and its legal representative is Li Xiande, the current chairman of JinkoSolar. The case will be heard on the afternoon of February 13, 2025.

In the N-type technology upgrade that has swept the industry in recent years, JinkoSolar was the first to carry the banner of mass production of N-type TOPCon and has the largest TOPCon production capacity in the industry.

Rewind the clock to 2022. At that time, LG Group announced its complete withdrawal from the photovoltaic manufacturing industry. In order to maximize the value of its patents, the multinational giant decided to sell some of its PV patents. In September of the same year, LG Group transferred a batch of patents to Shangrao Xinyuan Yuedong Technology Development Co., Ltd. (the plaintiff in the aforementioned case), making Jinko the largest "successor" of hundreds of patents of LG Group. With sufficient reserves in TOPCon technology, patents, and production capacity, Jinko has become the winner after the rapid expansion of the market share of N-type technology, and has regained the global PV module sales crown from LONGi.

Li Xiande previously told The Paper in an interview that the vast majority of TOPCon patents are in the hands of Jinko, "I very much hope that everyone will respect Jinko's R&D achievements." There are many ways to solve patent problems, such as licensing, purchasing, exchanging, rather than evading. ”

However, LONGi Green Energy is not a fan of TOPCon. The company's executives have publicly stated on several occasions that TOPCon is only a transitional technology roadmap and that the life cycle may be significantly shorter than PERC. LONGi Green Energy is the only first-tier module manufacturer that has not followed up on TOPCon production capacity on a large scale, and finally chose to bet on the relatively niche BC technology. By the end of 2025, its Gen 2 BC module production capacity is expected to reach 50GW.

Zhong Baoshen, chairman of LONGi Green Energy, said at an investor exchange event not long ago that the company is not afraid of the risk of TOPCon battery patent litigation, mainly because the company has always attached importance to scientific and technological innovation, and has also accumulated a considerable number of patents with gold content over the years. In addition, LONGi will also take targeted measures to avoid the patent risks of TOPCon batteries. For example, for some key overseas markets that may cause patent risks, the method of outsourcing cell procurement and outsourced cell processing is mainly adopted, while the domestic centralized market mainly uses the current 30GW of TOPCon production capacity in Ordos.

In March 2024, JinkoSolar successively transferred some of its patents to Trina Solar (688599. SH) and JA Solar (002459.SZ). Since then, the two leaders have also launched multiple rounds of patent lawsuits.

In May 2024, Trina Solar filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Runergy USA/Runergy Alabama in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, alleging unauthorized use of Trina Solar's TOPCon solar cell technology patents.

In the same month, it was reported that N-type TOPCon products and HJT products sent to Europe by Changshu Canadian Solar Power Technology Co., Ltd., and N-type TOPCon modules sent by Wuxi Yuncheng Power Technology Co., Ltd. to Latin America were seized by Shanghai Customs in accordance with the law, with a total value of more than 5 million yuan, because Trina Solar claimed that the above-mentioned companies were involved in patent infringement.

In June 2024, Trina Solar's lawsuit against Jiangsu Zhongqing Photovoltaic Technology Co., Ltd. and Jiangsu Zhongqing Guotou Industrial Development Group Co., Ltd. for infringement of invention patents was heard in the Intellectual Property Court No. 1 of the Intermediate People's Court of Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province.

In July 2024, JA Solar filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the European Patent Court against several European subsidiaries of another PV giant, Chint New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., accusing the latter of infringing its intellectual property rights related to TOPCon cell technology.

According to The Paper, up to now, seven of the top 10 module manufacturers in the world in terms of shipments have been involved in patent melees. It is one of the more common and common competitive means for enterprises to gain market competitive advantage or negotiation dominance through patent litigation.

Recently, Maxeon Solar Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of TCL Zhonghuan (002129.SZ), and Tongwei Solar (Hefei) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Tongwei Co., Ltd. (600438.SH), reached a global settlement on a patent dispute over shingling technology.

In 2019, South Korean company Hanwha sued LONGi Green Energy, Trina Solar, JinkoSolar and others for patent infringement in courts in many places. After years of tug-of-war, most of the lawsuits in the dispute ended in settlements. Among them, Hanwha and LONGi will enter into a patent cross-licensing agreement in 2023.

In the current industry environment, China is promoting the high-quality development of the photovoltaic industry through policy guidance to avoid low-level disorderly expansion and fierce competition in the industry. Industry associations and relevant ministries have repeatedly called for strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights.

In July 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued the "Standard Conditions for the Photovoltaic Manufacturing Industry (2024 Version)" (draft for comments), which aims to strengthen the management of the photovoltaic manufacturing industry and promote the transformation, upgrading and structural adjustment of the industry. The document particularly emphasizes the importance of intellectual property rights, encourages enterprises to strengthen the development, application and protection of intellectual property rights, and establishes a sound intellectual property compliance management system to promote the high-quality development of China's photovoltaic industry.