SolarEdge to challenge Huawei’s China patent win

Israeli power company  SolarEdge will appeal a Guangzhou IP court’s patent judgment in favour of Chinese telecommunications provider  Huawei.

Huawei succeeded on patent infringement claims against SolarEdge in a dispute over solar inverter patents,  pv magazine reported on Friday.

The judgment reportedly includes an order to “immediately stop the infringing activities”, as well as damages of RMB10 million ($1.4 million) to Huawei.

It is the latest win for Huawei in a protracted, global dispute between the two companies, which have seen them accuse each other of infringing their solar inverter IP.

In a statement sent to WIPR, a SolarEdge spokesperson said: “This judgment, which is not enforceable until the conclusion of an appeal, will have no impact on SolarEdge as it relates to older versions of our inverters that are no longer being produced and does not affect the inverters currently being manufactured and sold.”

The Israeli company added: “SolarEdge intends to appeal against the judgment and will continue to vigorously fight to protect its patented technology worldwide.”

Huawei has two other infringement claims against SolarEdge pending in Chinese court, while SolarEdge has filed complaints of its own in Jinan and Shenzhen.

The Guangzhou IP court’s ruling is the latest victory for Huawei in the dispute between the two companies.

In November, the Mannheim Regional Court in Germany ruled in the Chinese company’s favour, finding that it did not infringe a patent owned by SolarEdge.

The European Patent Office subsequently invalidated the SolarEdge patent. Other infringement claims brought by SolarEdge remain pending in German court.

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