Jinko Solar settles another U.S. solar panel patent infringement dispute

Context: In December 2024, China’s JinkoSolar, a solar panel manufacturer, sued several rivals and major renewable energy companies in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. It alleged that VSUN Solar USA Inc., Toyo Co. Ltd., Abalance Corporation, and subsidiaries WWB Corporation and Fuji Solar Co., Ltd. infringed two of its patents related to solar cell technologies (December 8, 2024 ip fray article). Last April, VSUN and Toyo denied the allegations, while Abalance and its subsidiaries filed a motion to dismiss the complaint for lack of personal jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim (April 17, 2025 ip fray article). Three months later, the court granted WWB’s motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, ruling that JinkoSolar had not made a prima facie showing that an agency relationship (control by the parent over the subsidiary) existed sufficient for the district court to exercise specific personal jurisdiction over WWB, nor had it provided evidence tying WWB to the products related to the patents-in-suit in the U.S. (July 29, 2025 ip fray article).

What’s new: The companies have settled their dispute, according to a filing in the Northern District of California (joint stipulation for dismissal below box).

Direct impact and wider ramifications: This is the latest in a series of settlements of patent infringement disputes in the solar panel manufacturing industry, including JinkoSolar’s agreement with rival LONGi last September, and (September 19, 2025 LONGi press release), and JASolar and Chint New Energy’s settlement in November (November 28, 2025 Astronergy press release). There is still a lot of litigation in the industry, however, with the most recent case filed by Singapore-based solar panel manufacturer Maxeon against China-based Aiko Solar in the Mannheim Regional Court, the Unified Patent Court, and the Landgericht München I (Munich I Regional Court) (December 16, 2025 ip fray article).