On the evening of February 10, Trina Solar (SH688599, share price 17.89 yuan, market value 38.99 billion yuan) disclosed that it would sue Canadian Solar (SH688472, stock price 10.23 yuan, market value 37.730 billion yuan). Trina Solar requested the court to order Canadian Solar and Changshu Canadian Solar Technology Co., Ltd. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canadian Solar, hereinafter referred to as Changshu Canadian Solar) to jointly compensate the plaintiff for the infringement of the company's two invention patents, the specific losses of 607 million yuan and 451 million yuan (a total of 1.058 billion yuan), and demanded that they bear the reasonable expenses and litigation costs involved in the case.

On February 11, Trina Solar replied to the reporter of "National Business Daily" that the lawsuit against Canadian Solar is based on the core invention patent related to TOPCon (a photovoltaic cell technology).

"Canadian Solar filed 12 invalidation cases against our nine patents in August 2024 and sued us in the Suzhou Intermediate People's Court in December, [and] asked the court to rule that it was not infringed." Trina Solar said it was forced to sue Canadian Solar.

Canadian Solar was quick to respond to the lawsuit. On the evening of February 11, Canadian Solar disclosed that the company and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Changshu Canadian Solar, were sued, and Trina Solar demanded a total of 1.058 billion yuan in compensation from Canadian Solar and its wholly-owned subsidiary for the patent dispute, and bear the cost of rights protection and all litigation costs. However, Canadian Solar stated in the announcement that the company has done a full research and analysis of Trina Solar's two patents involved in the case, and believes that there is strong evidence to prove that the two patents should be invalid, and the company's products and processes do not infringe the two patents.

Two invention patents are involved

According to the announcement, Trina Solar filed a lawsuit over two patents. First, the company filed a lawsuit with the Jiangsu Provincial High People's Court on the patent dispute of the No. ZL201710975923.2 invention patent "solar cell module" (hereinafter referred to as the patent 1 involved in the case), and recently received the court's "Notice of Acceptance of the Case" [Case No.: (2025) Su Zhi Min Chu No. 4]. Second, the company filed a lawsuit with the court for the patent dispute over the invention patent No. ZL201510892086.8 "solar cell and its manufacturing method" (hereinafter referred to as the patent 2 involved in the case), and also recently received the court's "Notice of Acceptance of the Case" [Case No.: (2025) Su Zhi Min Chu No. 5].

It is worth noting that Trina Solar and Canadian Solar are both leading companies in the photovoltaic industry, both of which are located in Jiangsu. Judging from the announcement, the court of first instance is already the Jiangsu Provincial High People's Court, and the claim amount is more than 1 billion yuan.

Trina Solar stated that after comparative analysis, the company believed that the photovoltaic modules and other products jointly manufactured, offered for sale and sold by Canadian Solar and Changshu Canadian Solar fell within the protection scope of the first and second patents in question. Without the permission of the plaintiff, they exploited the patents 1 and 2 in question, which seriously infringed upon the legitimate rights and interests of the company and caused economic losses to the company.

As a result, Trina Solar filed a lawsuit, requesting the court to order Canadian Solar and Changshu Canadian Solar to immediately cease the infringement of the Company's Patents 1 and 2, and to immediately destroy all the inventory of the alleged infringing products 1 and 2, as well as the equipment and related molds dedicated to the production of the related products.

In addition, Trina Solar separately requested an order that Canadian Solar and Changshu Canadian Solar jointly compensate the plaintiff for economic losses and punitive damages totaling RMB 1.058 billion caused by their infringement, and jointly compensate the plaintiff for reasonable expenses such as appraisal fees, lawyer fees, notary fees, and investigation fees of RMB 4 million for rights protection. The two parties were ordered to bear all the litigation costs of the two cases.

On February 11, Trina Solar told reporters that strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights is the consensus of the industry at home and abroad, and it is also the need for the high-quality development of the industry, and the company advocates a benign development model of joint development and win-win cooperation to build an industry ecology.

The parties to the litigation have their own opinions

In this regard, Canadian Solar said in its response on February 11 that after more adequate research and analysis, it believes that there is strong evidence to prove that the two patents should be invalid, and the company's products and processes do not infringe the two patents. Trina Solar's claims against the Company and Changshu Canadian Solar, totaling more than RMB 1 billion, based on these two patents, lack factual and legal basis.

In view of the fact that the above-mentioned lawsuit has not yet been tried in court and the final verdict is uncertain, Canadian Solar said that it is not yet possible to judge the specific impact of the lawsuit on the company's current or future profits, and the final actual impact is subject to the court's decision.

For the relevant patents, India's "Adani Company" and China's Jiangsu Runyang New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. and their subsidiaries have filed patent invalidation applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and Canadian Solar is paying close attention. In November 2024, Changshu Canadian Solar also formally submitted a request for invalidation of patent 2 to the Patent Office of the State Intellectual Property Office, which is currently under trial.

In addition, Canadian Solar has sued Trina Solar for infringement of Canadian Solar's two patents in the Suzhou Intermediate People's Court in October 2024, case numbers (2024) Su 05 Min Chu No. 1385 and (2024) Su 05 Min Chu No. 1399, in which Canadian Solar demanded that Trina Solar cease the infringement and pay a total of 100 million yuan in compensation to the company. Both cases are still ongoing.

In the announcement issued by Trina Solar earlier, the company believes that after comparative analysis, the photovoltaic modules and other products jointly implemented, by Canadian Solar and Changshu Canadian Solar, which are manufactured, offered for sale and sold, fall within the protection scope of the patents 1 and 2 in question. Canadian Solar and Changshu Canadian Solar filed a lawsuit for exploiting the patents 1 and 2 without permission, which seriously infringed on Trina Solar's legitimate rights and interests and caused economic losses to Trina Solar. In addition to the above-mentioned damages, Trina Solar also requested that Canadian Solar and Changshu Canadian Solar be ordered to immediately cease the infringement of the patent in question.

The

patent battle has been going on for a long time

The reporter of "National Business Daily" learned by checking the official website of the State Intellectual Property Office that Trina Solar obtained the above two patents from Shangrao Xinyuan Yuedong Technology Development Co., Ltd. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of JinkoSolar) in 2024. Going back further, the applicants for both patents are LG Electronics Corporation.

According to media reports, in 2022, LG Group announced its complete withdrawal from the photovoltaic manufacturing industry, transferring a total of 745 patents to JinkoSolar, covering countries and regions including the United States, South Korea, Germany, China, Australia and Europe. These patents are invention patents. Among them, 705 patents have been granted, and another 40 are still in the process of examination.

In response to the above-mentioned lawsuit, Trina Solar stated that since the above-mentioned lawsuit has not yet been heard, it is not yet possible to predict the impact of the lawsuit on the company's current and future profits, and the final actual impact is subject to the court's decision.

Patent disputes between PV companies occur from time to time. For example, LONGi Green Energy (SH601012, stock price 15.85 yuan, market value 120.1 billion yuan) and South Korean company Hanwha had a patent infringement dispute with South Korean company Hanwha for four years, and in 2022, Deer Laser (SZ300776, stock price 63.80 yuan, market value 17.423 billion yuan) filed a patent lawsuit against Hymson (SH688559, stock price 33.3 yuan, market value 8.212 billion yuan) for PERC (emitter passivation and backside contact cell technology) photovoltaic equipment.

In July 2024, JA Solar (SZ002459, stock price 13.02 yuan, market value 43.092 billion yuan) filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Chint New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. and a number of companies in Europe in the Munich Division of the UPC (European Unified Patent Court).

In addition, JinkoSolar (SH688223, share price 6.34 yuan, market value 63.433 billion yuan) also sued LONGi Green Energy, demanding that the latter immediately stop infringing on the relevant invention patent rights.

Cover image source: Visual China