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1 December 2022PatentsSarah Speight

Siemens suffers blow in wind turbine patent clash with GE

Major offshore wind turbine design at centre of dispute | Turbine “does not fall within the scope of Siemens’ patent,” ruled Judge Meade | Decision is latest of several patent quarrels between the two firms.

General Electric (GE) Renewable Energy has prevailed at the High Court of England and Wales this week in a patent dispute with rival wind turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa.

Siemens had brought a complaint against GE over the design of its offshore wind turbine, the Haliade-X—which GE had been commissioned to supply.

Billed as “the world’s most powerful wind turbine” and “industry’s first 14 MW offshore wind turbine to operate”, Siemens had alleged that the Haliade-X turbines infringed its own European patent (UK number 2,657,519,B1) covering the use of bearings in rotor hubs.

But in London's High Court yesterday, Wednesday 30 November, Judge Richard Meade ruled that Siemens did not in fact have a valid patent.

Even if the patent was valid, Meade deemed that “neither the fully assembled Haliade-X nor its hub” fell within the scope of Siemens’ patent, reported Reuters.

In response, Siemens said in a statement that it is “committed to protecting its valuable intellectual property rights and will continue to do so”.

“The company is analysing the UK Court’s ruling and [has] no further comment at this time.”

A GE spokesperson said: “We are pleased with the court’s ruling, which reinforces our view that not only is the technology in the Haliade-X different from other patented technology, but the patent in question and its counterparts should not have been issued in the first place.”

A related action, in which GE is suing Siemens for patent infringement, is due for trial in 2023, according to 4C Offshore.

A series of patent clashes

The decision follows a clutch of patent disputes between the two companies, after Siemens had sued GE in September 2020 accusing GE of infringing its US patent 9,279,413 and US patent 8,575,776.

In a victory for Siemens in the US in September, a federal judge banned GE from making and selling its Haliade-X turbines in the US.

This came after a  jury found in June that the turbines infringed Siemens’ ‘413 patent (which enables turbines to be larger and/or handle increased loads), concluding that GE’s infringement was not wilful and Siemens was not entitled to damages for lost profits. However, the jury said that Siemens should receive a royalty rate of $30,000 per megawatt.

Back in January, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) gave a partial win to GE after finding that Siemens had infringed a separate US patent, number 7,629,705.

WIPR has approached legal counsel for both Siemens and GE for comment.

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20 June 2022   General Electric (GE) has infringed a wind turbine patent owned by Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, according to a jury in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
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16 August 2022   US state opposes a permanent injunction bid by a German tech company | General Electric was found by a Massachusetts court in June this year to have infringed a wind turbine patent | State-sponsored renewable energy project ‘at risk’.