After lodging patent infringement complaints in the Federal Court of Australia against JinkoSolar and LONGi Solar on March 12, Hanwha Q CELLS has filed patent infringement complaints against three more companies – REC, Sol Distribution and BayWa r.e. Solar Systems.
The Federal Court complaint alleges that REC, Sol Distribution and BayWa r.e. Solar Systems are importing and selling solar modules that incorporate Hanwha Q CELLS’s patented passivation technology and infringe Hanwha Q CELLS’s Australian patent rights.
Hanwha Q CELLS seeks an order to stop the three companies from importing, marketing, and selling products that infringe Hanwha Q CELLS’s asserted Australian patent.
“We do not tolerate the infringement of our intellectual property rights and we will vigorously defend our technology from being unfairly used,” Chief Executive Officer of Hanwha Q CELLS & Advanced Materials Corp Hee Cheul (Charles) Kim said.
“We commenced legal action in Australia against two distributors as we are concerned they are distributing products supplied by REC Group that incorporate our patented passivation technology.
“We believe these legal actions will contribute to the long-term, healthy development of the solar energy industry.”
BayWA r.e. says it believes the case is without technical or legal merit.
“BayWa r.e. fully respects intellectual property rights and takes any allegations to the contrary very seriously,” managing director of BayWa r.e. Solar Systems Durmus Yildiz says.
“BayWa r.e. will continue to investigate the allegations and co-operate with its supply chain partners to take all steps necessary to defend itself against the claim.
“As always, BayWa r.e. will continue to keep its customers and partners fully appraised of any developments. Day-to-day business is unaffected, and we continue to be committed to providing the very best customer service.”
REC and Sol Distribution have been contacted for comment.
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