The Hague Court has deemed Maxeon’s appeal against AIKO and VDH Solar inadmissible
It cites non-payment of court-ordered security by the Singaporean cell and module manufacturer for the decision
Maxeon says it has withdrawn its Netherlands appeal, opting for the Unified Patent Court for enforcement
Maxeon says it continues to pursue the patent litigation against AIKO’s ABC products in Germany
The Hague Court of Appeal has ruled against Maxeon Solar Technologies in its lawsuit involving Chinese back contact (BC) technology solar PV manufacturer AIKO and Dutch wholesaler of PV products VDH Solar, for non-payment of a court-ordered security amount.
Maxeon had originally filed a patent infringement lawsuit against AIKO, its German subsidiaries and its wholesale supplier Memodo in November 2023. It accused AIKO of infringing on its BC cell architectures (see SunPower Spin-Off Launches Another Patent Lawsuit).
The District Court of The Hague denied Maxeon a preliminary injunction in its patent dispute against AIKO in May 2024, which the manufacturer appealed the following month (see TOPCon Patent War Heating Up: Trinasolar & Canadian Solar New Additions).
The court now considers its appeal inadmissible since Maxeon was unable to deposit security within the time frame set by the court for the legal costs and damages to both the defendants.
It had to provide an amount of €75,000 in favor of VDH and another Dutch distributor Libra, and €300,000 in favor of Aiko BV, which it could be ordered to pay on appeal, with security provided by means of an irrevocable bank guarantee from a reputable bank with a license in the European Union (EU).
According to information on de rechtspraak, the court has now declared Maxeon inadmissible in its appeal against the judgment of the interim relief judge in the District Court of The Hague on May 16, 2024.
TaiyangNews reached out to both AIKO and Maxeon for their comment. While AIKO spokesperson preferred not to comment on the matter at this point, Maxeon sent an answer via email, saying that some online and social media reports on its patent dispute with AIKO as ‘inaccurate and misleading’, and shared that it has withdrawn its appeal case in the Netherlands.
“Given the advantages of the UPC (Unified Patent Court) in terms of its case handling efficiency, and the fact that the judgment in this case, based on the European unitary patent, can be directly enforced in multiple UPC member states, including the Netherlands, Maxeon has decided to withdraw the appeal case in the Netherlands. It is important to emphasize that, although Maxeon has withdrawn the appeal case in the Netherlands, this does not preclude Maxeon from continuing to initiate patent infringement litigation with proceedings on the merits against the Aiko's product in the Netherlands based on the same patent,” stated Maxeon, and added, “In addition, except for the ongoing UPC case, Maxeon's patent infringement action against Aiko’s ABC products in Germany is ongoing."
“The above facts show that Maxeon, as a leader in solar technology, has not ceased its efforts to protect its intellectual property rights against Aiko and others it believes are infringing its IP, and will continue to be committed to resolving intellectual property issues in a fair and productive manner, respecting all parties involved, and contributing to the development of the solar panel industry ecosystem,” added Maxeon.
AIKO is among several solar PV manufacturers Maxeon has initiated patent lawsuits for infringing its IP portfolio. At the end of 2024, Maxeon reached an agreement with China’s Tongwei Solar, signing a cross-licensing agreement instead (see Tongwei & Maxeon Reach Agreement In Solar Patent Dispute).
This development follows the change of guard at Maxeon as the company sold off its non-US assets to China’s TCL Technology, the parent group of its majority shareholder TCL Group, which has now restructured the business into a new solar solutions business unit called TCL SunPower International. Maxeon will focus only on the US market (see Maxeon Announces 2 GW US Solar Module Manufacturing Plant).