晶科能源与隆基绿能宣布,他们及旗下子公司已达成全球和解协议,涵盖所有正在进行的专利诉讼。协议终结了双方在中国、美国、欧洲、日本和澳大利亚的诉讼,并建立了一项商业安排,包括部分核心专利的交叉授权。
双方将这一协议表述为对知识产权保护和行业合作的承诺。晶科与隆基表示,他们将继续投入研发,加速先进技术的商业化,并探索更深入的合作。
这场诉讼持续一年多,围绕两种竞争性电池技术展开:晶科主推的隧穿氧化层钝化接触(TOPCon)和隆基推广的背接触(BC)。这场纷争已成为行业从价格竞争转向专利与技术主导的缩影。
纠纷起于2022年,当时晶科从韩国LG集团收购了745项专利,从而在TOPCon和BC技术上获得更强地位,并随即在全球发起一系列侵权诉讼,包括在中国和日本起诉隆基侵犯TOPCon专利,以及在欧洲和澳大利亚提起诉讼,试图限制隆基BC组件的推广。
隆基则以其近200项BC技术专利展开反击,在美国和中国起诉晶科侵犯BC设计专利,并寻求在欧洲和美国撤销晶科部分专利。同时,隆基加快了BC产品的商业化,在欧洲市场占据份额,凸显其背后的商业利益。
归根结底,这场专利战既是技术之争,也是商业策略的较量。此次和解意味着重要转折。交叉授权不仅减少了双方的法律风险,也显示出行业可能正从激烈的知识产权防御走向务实合作。
在联合声明中,晶科与隆基表示,他们将“探索更深入合作的机会”,为未来在下一代电池技术上的协作留下空间。
作者:VINCENT SHAW
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.