German solar research institute Fraunhofer ISE has reached out-of-court settlements with leading inverter companies from Greater China and Germany regarding 7 patent infringement cases it slapped against them for unlawfully using HERIC topology inverter technology.
The out-of-court settlements also include a royalty-bearing licensing of the HERIC topology. With this, the institute said the sued companies have averted the threat of a ban on the sale of their products. The companies were not identified.
Fraunhofer ISE estimates more than 80% of all single-phase inverters installed globally as based on its Highly Efficient and Reliable Inverter Concept (HERIC) topology which was developed by Dr. Heribert Schmidt and other colleagues from the institute in 2002. It is mostly used in the lower power range for rooftop solar installations and leads to efficiency levels of up to 99%.
This technology, either in its original form or some process of it in a modified version, has been used by a large number of manufacturers without its consent, said Fraunhofer ISE – and that has been confirmed by the Munich I Regional Court.
"IP from Germany is in many products of the photovoltaic industry, and not infrequently the patents on them are infringed. We are prepared to take action against patent infringements," said Institute Director of Fraunhofer ISE, Prof. Andreas Bett.