Longji Does Not Infringe the Patent Rights of Hanwha, Mass Production and Supply of Gallium-doped Silicon Wafers in April
The Longji and Hanwha patent cases finally came to light.
On April 13, a judge of the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) announced that Longji 's products did not infringe the patent rights of Hanwha Q CELLS (hereinafter referred to as "Hanhua”).
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Small Solar Panel from BlueSolaria
The specific developments are reviewed as follows:
In March 2019, Hanwha filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Longji Holdings and Jinko Energy in the United States and Germany, alleging that Jinko Energy, Longji Leye were in the United States, and Jinko Energy and other companies illegally imported and sold in Germany infringement of Hanwha Passivation Process Patented solar cells and modules.
On March 7, 2019, in response to articles published by the relevant media on March 5, 2019, entitled "Hanwha Q-CELLS sued Jingkolongji and REC, infringing on passivation technology patents" (hereinafter referred to as "Hanwha litigation case"), Longji Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the "Company") promptly disclosed the "Clarification Announcement on Media Reports", announcing the patent content involved, the company's technical methods and the impact on the company.
In response, Longji shares said that, first, the patents used in the Hanwha lawsuit were obtained through multiple transfer purchases from other research institutions, and its patent rights were shared with other companies. At the same time, there is great uncertainty in the stability of the patent right. Second, from a technical point of view, the current technology of the company’s products is not consistent with the patents involved (the patent uses ALD technology and the company uses PECVD technology); third, there is currently no evidence that the company’s products infringe any patent rights.
On March 8, 2019, Longji received the patent litigation request and summons for the above matters and timely disclosed the "Announcement on the Progress of Hanhua's Prosecution of the Patent Right of the Company".
On April 9, 2020, Longji shares and relevant intermediaries responded to the issues related to the Hanwha litigation case listed in the "Notice of Feedback on the Review of the Administrative Licensing Project of the China Securities Regulatory Commission" (No. 193156).
It is understood that Hanwha Q CELLS is a global solar energy integrated solution company under the Hanwha Group. Its products involve solar cells and modules and provide solutions covering the entire solar business. JinkoSolar, Longji and Hanwha are all in the first group in the global photovoltaic industry competition.
Longji said that for a long time, the company has attached great importance to technological innovation and respected intellectual property rights. At present, the company has more than 1,000 patent applications, and many key technologies in solar photovoltaic power generation including PERC solar cell technology have achieved global leadership.
The disclosure progress of the Hanwha lawsuit is as follows: The judge of the US International Trade Commission (ITC) issued "Hanwha v. Lungi products infringing its US patent rights (Patent No .: US9893215)". The preliminary findings of the 337 investigation: the preliminary determination of the company's products does not infringe Hanwha patent right.
In response to the company's latest progress, on April 13, Longji shares responded to investor questions on the investor interactive platform that the company has mass produced and supplied gallium-doped silicon wafer products since April.
Longji's official website is marked with red fonts: Longji has obtained the gallium-doped patent authorization, and P-type products (boron-doped and gallium-doped) have the same price.
On March 25, Longji shares formally signed a global, non-exclusive, patent licensing agreement with a cross-licensing model with Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. Lungi products that use patents related to gallium-doped technology will be protected worldwide from being sued. The specific terms of the agreement are confidential. Using others ’intellectual property rights and paying reasonable fees is essential to promote innovation, advance technological progress and industrial development.
Longji paid the royalties for the patented technology of gallium-doped single crystal, and announced the same price of boron-doped and gallium-doped single-crystal silicon wafers. With the acquisition of this gallium-doped patent license, Longji will make further breakthroughs in controlling the attenuation of solar photovoltaic products, and at the same time provide better solutions for the industry with low attenuation products.
Longji single crystal PERC products will also highlight higher cost performance in future practical applications and have greater competitive advantages; on the other hand, it will better promote the PERC technology industrialization level to be more stable and efficient, and boost the technology of the entire industry Progress and cost reduction.
The industry believes that because gallium-doped single crystals can effectively reduce the initial photoinduced decay (LID) and improve the power generation efficiency of solar modules, under the premise of the same silicon wafer price, gallium-doped single crystals will become the mainstream of the market in the future.