{"id":105420,"date":"2024-03-26T08:09:40","date_gmt":"2024-03-26T12:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/\/?p=105420"},"modified":"2024-12-09T08:00:45","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T13:00:45","slug":"maxeon-alleges-canadian-solar-is-infringing-on-patented-topcon-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/\/2024\/03\/maxeon-alleges-canadian-solar-is-infringing-on-patented-topcon-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Maxeon alleges Canadian Solar is infringing on patented TOPCon technology"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Maxeon Solar has initiated a patent infringement lawsuit against Canadian Solar alleging infringement of Maxeon&#8217;s TOPCon patents. Maxeon filed in the Eastern District of Texas.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_103947\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/canadian-solar-topcon-topbihiku.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-103947\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-103947\" src=\"https:\/\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/canadian-solar-topcon-topbihiku-500x325.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"325\" srcset=\"https:\/\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/canadian-solar-topcon-topbihiku-500x325.jpg 500w, https:\/\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/canadian-solar-topcon-topbihiku-368x238.jpg 368w, https:\/\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/canadian-solar-topcon-topbihiku.jpg 770w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-103947\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Canadian Solar TOPCon module<\/p><\/div>\n<p>After buying Solaria&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/\/2023\/09\/maxeon-buys-solarias-shingled-cell-technology-patents\/\">shingled-cell technology patents last year<\/a>, Maxeon now holds over 1,650 granted patents and over 330 pending patent applications related to interdigitated back contact (IBC), <a href=\"https:\/\/\/2020\/07\/what-are-shingled-solar-modules\/\">shingled<\/a> hypercell and<a href=\"https:\/\/\/2022\/04\/what-is-topcon-solar-panel-technology\/\"> tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon)<\/a> solar technology. The company announced last year that it was investigating several companies for infringement of Maxeon&#8217;s patents. This claim against Canadian Solar is the first to be announced.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Maxeon has a strong heritage in developing solar cell technology, leading the development and commercialization of tunnel oxide passivated contacts,&#8221; said Marc Robinson, Associate General Counsel at Maxeon. &#8220;Years before the moniker &#8216;TOPCon&#8217; started to be used in the industry to describe a tunnel oxide passivated contact-based solar cell, our scientists and engineers had developed several ways to implement TOPCon technology into both back-contact and front-contact solar cells. Maxeon has many patents related to TOPCon technology, with inventions drawn to fundamental TOPCon solar cell architectures dating back to the 2000s. This is Maxeon&#8217;s first action to enforce its valuable patent rights in the United States, and Maxeon will continue to vigorously enforce its patent rights in the United States and its other markets.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Maxeon is alleging infringement on three patents: Nos. 8,222,516 (the \u2019516 patent), 8,878,053 (the \u2019053 patent), and 11,251,315 (the \u2019315 patent).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8216;516 patent: Front Contact Solar Cell with Formed Emitter (granted in 2012 to SunPower)<\/li>\n<li>&#8216;053 patent: Front Contact Solar Cell with Formed Emitter (granted in 2014 to SunPower)<\/li>\n<li>&#8216;315 patent: Solar Cells with Improved Lifetime, Passivation and\/or Efficiency (granted in 2022 to SunPower)\n<ul>\n<li><em>SunPower assigned its patents to Maxeon in 2022.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Canadian Solar released a comment:<\/p>\n<div class=\"su-quote su-quote-style-default su-quote-has-cite\"><div class=\"su-quote-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">As one of the largest solar product manufacturers in the world,\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0manufactures and sells many different types of solar products, both in\u00a0the United States\u00a0and elsewhere in the world, including TOPCon solar modules. As a technology company,\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0respects and takes very seriously its own intellectual property rights and those of third parties.\u00a0Canadian Solar\u00a0has itself filed and received thousands of patents in various jurisdictions for solar cells and related technology.<\/p>\n<p>Although Canadian Solar is continuing to consult its lawyers and study Maxeon&#8217;s complaint, the company&#8217;s preliminary assessment is that the claims in the complaint are entirely without merit. Canadian Solar denies that its TOPCon technology infringes on Maxeon&#8217;s patents and intends to vigorously defend itself against Maxeon&#8217;s claims. Canadian Solar is confident that its TOPCon technology and processes will be vindicated in court at the appropriate time. Meanwhile, Canadian Solar will continue to sell high quality solar products in the United States and elsewhere, as it has done since its founding in Canada more than 20 years ago.<span class=\"su-quote-cite\">Canadian Solar<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Solaria filed a patent infringement suit against Canadian Solar in 2020, alleging Canadian Solar stole Solaria&#8217;s patents for shingled solar modules. The International Trade Commission found that Canadian Solar <a href=\"https:\/\/\/2021\/10\/itc-finds-that-canadian-solar-did-infringe-on-solarias-shingled-solar-module-patents\/\">did infringe<\/a> on Solaria&#8217;s patents, and the two companies ultimately agreed that Canadian Solar would not sell solar panels using shingled technology in the United States for <a href=\"https:\/\/\/2022\/06\/canadian-solar-agrees-to-not-sell-shingled-solar-modules-in-united-states-for-seven-years\/\">seven years.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Updated March 28 to add Canadian Solar&#8217;s comment.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maxeon Solar has initiated a patent infringement lawsuit against Canadian Solar alleging infringement of Maxeon&#8217;s TOPCon patents. Maxeon filed in the Eastern District of Texas. After buying Solaria&#8217;s shingled-cell technology patents last year, Maxeon now holds over 1,650 granted patents and over 330 pending patent applications related to interdigitated back contact (IBC), shingled hypercell and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1401,"featured_media":103947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,2650],"tags":[5595],"class_list":{"2":"type-post","10":"entry","11":"has-post-thumbnail"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Maxeon alleges Canadian Solar is infringing on patented TOPCon technology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Maxeon Solar has initiated a patent infringement lawsuit against Canadian Solar alleging infringement of Maxeon&#039;s TOPCon patents. 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