Longi Solar says Hanwha patents relate to different tech

Chinese photovoltaics (PV) maker Longi Solar said today it has not received any legal case documents about the recent complaints by Hanwha Q Cells over patent infringement, and at the same time put at doubt the validity of its rival’s patent rights.

Hanwha Q Cells announced on Tuesday that subsidiaries in the US and Germany have taken legal actions against JinkoSolar, Longi Solar and REC Group over the unlawful import and sale of patent-infringing PV cells and modules. Longi Solar noted that it knows about the case from news articles and added that there has been no official business negotiation correspondence from Hanwha on the matter before this event.

The Chinese company said preliminary analysis has shown that there currently are several opposition procedures against the patents in question, at least in Europe, and that there is “considerable uncertainty with regards to the validity of the patent rights.” Longi also pointed out that it currently uses PECVD technology, while the disputed patents relate to ALD technology.

The firm said further that it does not expect this case to have a material impact on its production and operations, but added that it is ready to actively respond against the complaint.

JinkoSolar was the first to respond to the allegations, saying that they are without technical or legal merit.

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