PVTIME – JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (“JinkoSolar”) (NYSE: JKS), one of the largest and most innovative solar module manufacturers in the world, today responded to the Regional Court of Düsseldorf’s recent determination concluding that third-party cell technology contained in certain JinkoSolar modules, no longer in production, infringes a patent held by Hanwha Q CELLS. JinkoSolar believes the Düsseldorf court came to an erroneous conclusion and will appeal the decision. JinkoSolar is also challenging the Hanwha patent’s validity at the European Patent Office (“EPO”).
Importantly, the scope and impact of the Düsseldorf court’s decision is limited to Germany. Additionally, the decision relates to third-party cells included in older versions of JinkoSolar-branded modules which are no longer in production. As such, the decision has no impact on current JinkoSolar customers, and JinkoSolar may continue to import and sell modules that use its own cell technology to customers in Germany.
“We respectfully disagree with the recent decision of the Düsseldorf court, which did not take any independent expert evidence and based its decision on one sided allegations,” said Kangping Chen, CEO of JinkoSolar. “We continue to believe that Hanwha’s claims are without merit and were brought solely to slow down our business momentum. We will pursue all legal avenues to vigorously defend against Hanwha’s claims, including contesting the validity of the patent associated with the cell technology in question. Providing JinkoSolar’s customers with industry-leading solar modules remains our top priority and we will continue to work tirelessly to achieve that end.”
