Maxeon suing Chinese firm in Germany over patent infringement

Singapore-based photovoltaic (PV) panels maker Maxeon Solar Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:MAXN) said on Wednesday it has filed patent infringement lawsuits in Germany against Shanghai Aiko Solar Energy Co Ltd (SHA:600732), some of its units, and a wholesaler.

The reason for this move is an alleged infringement by Aiko and its wholesaler Memodo GmbH of Maxeon's European Patent No. EP2297788B1, which relates to proprietary and fundamental solar cell architectures for rear or back contact solar cells, also known as All-Back Contact (ABC) solar cells or Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC) solar cells.

"We believe that Aiko uses Maxeon's technology," said Lindsey Wiedmann, Maxeon’s chief legal and sustainability officer. She stressed that the company wants Aiko and Memodo to immediately stop unauthorised use of its patented technology.

“Earlier this year we took action against Tongwei with respect to our Shingled Hypercell technology, and we plan to continue to vigorously defend our intellectual property around IBC, Shingled Hypercell, and TOPCon technologies," Wiedmann added.

Maxeon pointed out that its Maxeon IBC, Shingled Hypercell, and TOPCon technologies are protected by a portfolio of over 1,600 granted patents and over 360 pending patent applications across markets such as the US, China, Australia, Japan, Korea, Germany, France, and the Netherlands.

The announcement about the new patent infringement lawsuits was made the same day Maxeon unveiled the settlement of a legal dispute with SunPower over missed payments.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!