First Solar has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Chinese manufacturer JA Solar and American Panel Solutions, a subsidiary of Corning, escalating its years-long legal campaign to defend a core solar cell manufacturing patent.
The complaint, filed October 1 in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, alleges that JA Solar Technology Co., Ltd., JA Solar International, Ltd., JA Solar Vietnam Co., Ltd. and JA Solar Industrial Corp. (collectively, “JA Solar”), together with American Panel Solutions LLC (“AMPS”), alleging infringement of First Solar’s US Patent No. 9,130,074 (the “‘074 Patent”) .
The ‘074 Patent covers methods of manufacturing Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCon) crystalline silicon photovoltaic solar cells .
What the lawsuit alleges
Corning acquired JA Solar’s U.S. 2 GW module assembly plant in Arizona last year , and AMPS operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of the glass and materials company.
According to pv magazine USA, the Delaware court filing follows First Solar’s recent strategic pivot away from broad Section 337 proceedings at the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) in favor of direct district court litigation . First Solar had voluntarily withdrawn its Section 337 complaint and terminated the ITC investigation into competitors allegedly infringing on its TOPCon patent the previous month.
By targeting both primary cell producers and domestic distribution partners, First Solar is seeking monetary damages alongside permanent injunctive relief to halt the import, assembly, and sale of the disputed TOPCon modules in the U.S.
According to First Solar’s own announcement of the lawsuit, General Counsel Jason Dymbort said: “We have been clear that we will actively defend our intellectual property rights in the US and internationally.”
He added: “This lawsuit is an effort to hold JA Solar and AMPS accountable for their unauthorized use of First Solar’s patented technology and reinforces the need for TOPCon manufacturers operating in the United States to respect the well-defined framework of intellectual property law,” according to First Solar’s press release and Solar Power World.
A patent fight years in the making
First Solar said it acquired the TOPCon patent portfolio through its 2013 purchase of TetraSun .
The underlying intellectual property covers fundamental oxide passivating layer structures engineered to reduce carrier recombination and boost module conversion efficiency .
As TOPCon technology rapidly replaces passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) architectures across global supply chains, First Solar has stepped up enforcement of its patent portfolio, which holds active protection through 2030 and beyond.
The JA Solar case is not an isolated action. First Solar’s own securities filings show a pattern of litigation against several major crystalline silicon producers selling into the U.S. market.
On February 25, 2025, First Solar filed suit in the district court for the District of Delaware asserting that JinkoSolar and related entities directly and indirectly infringe a First Solar patent through JinkoSolar’s manufacture, import, use, sale, and offering for sale of certain tunnel oxide passivated contact (“TOPCon”) solar products. On May 9, 2025, First Solar filed suit in the district court for the District of Delaware asserting that Canadian Solar Inc. and related entities directly and indirectly infringe a First Solar patent through Canadian Solar’s manufacture, import, use, sale, and offering for sale of certain TOPCon solar products. On February 27, 2026, First Solar filed suit in the district court for the District of Delaware asserting that Trina Solar Co., Ltd. and related entities directly and indirectly infringe a First Solar patent through Trina Solar’s manufacture, import, use, sale, and offering for sale of certain TOPCon solar products.
On February 24, 2026, First Solar also filed a petition with the USITC asserting that entities affiliated with Axitec Solar, Canadian Solar, JA Solar, JinkoSolar, Mundra, Philadelphia Solar, Hanwha QCells, Runergy, Trina Solar, and VSUN directly and indirectly infringe a First Solar patent through the importation and sale of certain TOPCon solar products, seeking a general exclusion order preventing the importation of infringing TOPCon solar products, or in the alternative a limited exclusion order, along with a cease-and-desist order , though First Solar later withdrew that ITC complaint while continuing its district court cases.
The patent itself is being contested
The underlying intellectual property is not uncontested. According to TNGlobal, the patent First Solar is asserting faces challenges .
In May, China’s patent office invalidated the ‘074 patent, striking down all its claims in a case brought by JinkoSolar. The patent is also under reexamination in the United States, with JinkoSolar and Canadian Solar seeking to have it declared invalid.
Separately, First Solar’s own securities filings show the company already fought off one challenge to the patent domestically.
JinkoSolar Co. Ltd. filed an inter partes review before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office alleging First Solar’s ‘074 Patent is invalid over certain prior art. First Solar filed a brief requesting that the inter partes review be discretionarily denied, and on November 20, 2025, the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board declined the petition, ending the proceeding.
Why the case matters for US manufacturing
The litigation lands as domestic solar manufacturers navigate a shifting policy landscape, including new tariff structures on imported cells and polysilicon that are already reshaping the economics of the solar supply chain.
TOPCon has become the dominant cell technology among Chinese-linked manufacturers expanding assembly operations in the United States, many of them racing to source domestic cells as the gap between US module and cell-making capacity remains wide.
A ruling against JA Solar and American Panel Solutions could set a precedent affecting how Chinese-linked cell technology is licensed or excluded from the US market, with implications for pricing, supply chains and the pace at which American assembly plants can source compliant cells.
