The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) denied three applications against First Solar that challenged the validity of its solar cell technology patents. First Solar is a photovoltaic (PV) solar module manufacturer and provider.

The applications petitioned to invalidate First Solar’s tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) technology. They were filed by JinkoSolar, Mundra Solar and Canadian Solar. JinkoSolar and Canadian Solar sought to invalidate First Solar’s U.S. Patent No. 9,130,074, while Mundra Solar’s application sought a review of First Solar’s US Patent No. 9,666,732. The patents cover methods of manufacturing TOPCon crystalline silicon PV solar cells.

“First Solar believes the USPTO properly exercised its discretion in each of the cases brought by Jinko, Canadian Solar and Mundra,” says Jason Dymbort, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of First Solar. “We believe that this is consistent with USPTO’s ‘Settled Expectations’ doctrine, which is underpinned by the principle that the longer a patent has been in force, the stronger and more settled the patent owner’s expectations should be. The patents at issue in each of these matters were issued in 2015 and 2017, respectively, long before each of these manufacturers’ petitions were filed.”

First Solar obtained the TOPCon patents and related international counterparts through its 2013 acquisition of TetraSun Inc. The patents include issued patents in the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.

First Solar has pending lawsuits against JinkoSolar, Mundra Solar and Canadian Solar, alleging infringement of its patents in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.