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. 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

SOURCE  LONGi Solar