LONGi Won the Patent Invalidation Case (IPR) Against Hanwha in the US

XI'AN, China, June 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued an appeal decision on the invalidation of Hanwha's US patent US9893215B2, in which the court upheld the US Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) "Invalidation Decision", ruling in favour of the patent's invalidity. LONGi has won both the International Trade Commission (ITC) litigation and the patent invalidation case (IPR) against Hanwha in the United States thus far.

Earlier this week, the specialized Court in Paris (France), in a decision handed down by one of its most experienced patent law judges, ruled that Hanwha's seizures as conducted in France in 2021 were illegal and thus invalid on the grounds of disloyal conduct by Hanwha and ordered the release and recall of all the documents and materials that were seized and detained illegally by Hanwha. As a result, the documents as obtained in these French seizures are being recalled and they will be rendered unusable unless the French judgement is appealed and reversed. More specifically, the French Court ruled that Hanwha had acted in a disloyal manner by withholding crucial information from the French Court such as (1) the opinion issued on October 21, 2020 by the Opposition Division of the European Patent Office (EPO) ruling in favour of the invalidity of Hanwha's patent and (2) the fact that the equivalent patent claims in the US had been declared invalid by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). 

At present, the non-infringement and invalidity proceedings in Australia litigation between LONGi and Hanwha are currently in the stage of evidence exchange and argument defence. The judge is tentatively set to hear the case in the fourth quarter of 2022. 

Furthermore, LONGi has filed an opposition to the EPO contesting the validity of the equivalent Europe patent EP2220689B1, which is still pending.

LONGi is an industry-leading developer and manufacturer of state of the art solar modules. It annually invests around €600 Million on R&D to develop best in class PV products and it respects valid third party rights.

About LONGi

Founded in 2000, LONGi is committed to being the world's leading solar technology company, focusing on customer-driven value creation for full scenario energy transformation.

Under its mission of 'Utilizing Solar Energy, Building a Green World' and brand philosophy of 'Steadfast and Reliable Technology Leadership', LONGi has dedicated itself to technology innovation and established five business sectors, covering mono silicon wafers, cells and modules, commercial & industrial distributed solar solutions, green energy solutions and hydrogen equipment. The company has honed its capabilities to provide green energy and has, more recently, also embraced green hydrogen products and solutions to support global zero carbon development. www.longi.com/en