Trina Solar and Hanwha Qcells settle patent dispute

Trina Solar and its South Korean rival Hanwha Qcells revealed they had reached a settlement in a patent dispute brought by the Chinese module maker in January.

In a joint statement, the two companies said they had reached a patent licensing and assignment agreement for their intellectual property.

"The agreement allows the companies to use each other's solar patents, each waive all pending cases between the parties, and continue to provide and support their respective products in each market to meet customer needs," they said.

In a patent infringement lawsuit against Hanwha Qcells’ Chinese subsidiary, Hanwha Q CELLS (Qidong) Co., Ltd., Trina Solar said that the South Korean company’s illegal export and sale of solar modules violated the 2016 State Intellectual Property Office Patent granted to the Chinese manufacturer.

"The lawsuit involves the core cell technology commonly used in modules currently produced by Hanwha in China and sold globally," a spokesperson for Trina Solar once told pv magazine, "The products accused of infringement include Q.PEAK DUO BLK M- Key products such as G11A+, Q.PEAK DUO M-G11."

If Trina Solar successfully proves its Claim in China, Hanwha Qcells may be banned from producing and selling infringing products in China and other countries, and may also face high infringement damages due to past production and sales.

And in December last year, a German court issued a preliminary injunction ordering Trina Solar to stop selling its Honey and Vertex X solar modules in Germany for alleged infringement of Hanwha Qcells' patented passivation technology.

In late October, Hanwha Solutions filed a preliminary injunction application alleging that Trina Solar (Germany) had improperly sold solar modules in the German market, arguing that Trina Solar panels infringed the terms of its proprietary Q.ANTUM passivation technology. A patent for a technology said to play a key role in improving the performance of silicon-based solar cells.