Hanwha Q CELLS media statement regarding U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision

[Dalton, United States, December 14, 2020] Hanwha Q CELLS respects the decision of the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) in the Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings filed by REC Group last year relating to solar cell passivation technology on December 8, 2020. However, it is regrettable that the PTAB has not taken our supporting arguments into proper consideration.

The result of the IPR is not final but appealable to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Though a few claims of the ‘215 patent have been invalidated in the IPR, the majority of claims are still valid maintaining its patentability. In view of this, Hanwha Q CELLS is confident that it will eventually succeed in proving the validity of its patent in the appeals.

The validity of our PERC cell technology has previously been confirmed by China’s Reexamination and Invalidation Department of the Patent Office in November 2020 in a patent invalidation trial. Prior to this ruling, Hanwha Q CELLS has also won the first patent infringement trial in Germany filed against REC Solar EMEA GmbH and others with respect to its patent (EU ‘971) in June 2020.

Hanwha Q CELLS is determined to prove the validity of its patent by filing an appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Hanwha Q CELLS believes innovative and original technologies are crucial in driving the solar power industry forward. Thus, Hanwha Q CELLS will seek all possible legal avenues to prove its claims of infringement and to protect the company’s valuable intellectual property rights.

Safe-Harbor Statement

This media statement contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” and similar statements. Among other things, the quotations from management in this press release and the Hanwha Q CELLS’s operations and business outlook contain forward-looking statements. Such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, Hanwha Q CELLS does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Media Contact

Q CELLS North America
E-mail: media@us.q-cells.com