Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) and Canadian Solar (USA) Inc. announced yesterday that they have reached a settlement agreement with Solaria resolving their pending patent litigation, following the claim construction order by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California adopting the core argument advanced by Canadian Solar, as well as the decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission to grant Canadian Solar's request to review the initial determination of its Administrative Law Judge.
Pursuant to the terms of the settlement, Solaria agreed to terminate the Section 337 investigation it initiated at the U.S. International Trade Commission and to dismiss with prejudice the patent infringement claims it asserted against Canadian Solar in the Northern District of California.
Canadian Solar agreed to withdraw the inter partes review it filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office challenging a Solaria asserted patent.
Neither party admits any liability or wrongdoing, and no payment is required under the settlement.
"We are pleased to resolve our dispute with Solaria, and to continue our focus on providing our customers with high quality solar products and exceptional service," said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar Inc.
No changes to Canadian Solar's product offerings will result from the settlement – Canadian Solar had already discontinued the shingled solar module technology at issue in the litigation several months ago.
"Our newest all black modules can achieve significantly higher power output and module efficiency, and this will give our customers even better performance than the previous shingled cell technology they have replaced," said Dr. Qu.
Canadian Solar is committed to continuing innovation and to providing a cost-effective source of renewable energy in all the markets it serves around the world.
