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DuPont sues Heraeus over metallization paste

DuPont has filed a law suit against Heraeus Materials, and its client SolarWorld Industries America. DuPont alleges that Heraeus and SolarWorld have infringed on the DuPont patent relating to front-side sliver pastes.

DuPont is seeking to defend its intellectual property from an alleged infringement.

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In its second law suit filed against Heraeus, DuPont alleges that Heraeus is infringing on its U.S. Patent No. 8,158,504 B2. DuPont Electronics’ David Miller said, in a statement announcing the legal action, that the company has invested "significant resources" in its innovative products that it wishes to protect.

"The advances we have made in the field of front- and back-side metallization contacts have resulted in significant efficiency gains for solar cell technology," said Miller. "This case demonstrates that DuPont will act swiftly to enforce our intellectual property rights against any infringers and protect our investment and commitment to DuPont shareholders and customers."

SolarWorld’s Ben Santarris has responded to the action by saying that the claim is "surprising and incomprehensible to us." The Sustainable Buisness Oregon website, from the state where SolarWorld’s American operations are based, quoted Santarris as continuing: "As a mere customer of Heraeus, we naturally don’t have any insight into the patent law situation of the various paste patents. We will now, however, discuss the issue with Heraeus and so far Heraeus’ position is that the accusations are unsubstantiated."

DuPont supplies a large proportion of the conductive pastes used in photovoltaic modules. It was granted the patent in question in April of this year, which was originally filed in 2009. The company hopes to stop Germany-based Heraeus from selling the silver paste, while also seeking compesation for the alleged violation of the patent.