JinkoSolar receives favorable judgment of non-infringement in Hanwha Q CELLS patent claim

JinkoSolar, a major Chinese solar module manufacturer, just announced that the U.S.  International Trade Commission (ITC) issued a favorable final determination — finding that JinkoSolar’s products do not infringe a patent claimed by Hanwha Q CELLS.

In March 2019, Hanwha initiated ITC Investigation No. 337-TA-1151 against JinkoSolar, LONGi Solar and REC Group, asserting that the companies infringed on U.S. Patent No. 9,893,215.

At the patent’s core is a passivation technology that increases the efficiency of modules.

From Hanwha’s perspective, Jinko illegally used this technology in its own modules. Jinko Solar rejected Hanwha Q-Cells’ patent infringement allegations at the time.

According to a final determination by the ITC, the products of JinkoSolar have not infringed a patent claimed by Hanwha Q-Cells.

With this decision, the U.S. ITC confirmed an initial assessment by an administrative judge in April, which was based on the analysis of detailed expert statements. “We welcome this final decision by the ITC and confirm what we have always known: our products do not infringe the Hanwha patent,” said Kangping Chen, CEO of JinkoSolar.

Jinko believed from the start that Hanwha Q-Cells’ allegations were legally and technically unfounded. The decision confirmed that Hanwha Q-Cells should never have brought this action, according to JinkoSolar.

Hanwha Q-Cells said, when asked by pv magazine, that the company respects the decision of the U.S. ITC, but continues to believe that there is a patent infringement.