A U.S. District Court has found that component manufacturer Voltage did infringe on patents owned by Shoals Technologies Group when selling large-scale solar cabling devices in the United States and awarded Shoals over $96.38 million in damages. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina has also placed a preliminary injunction against the manufacture, distribution or sale of Voltage’s infringing products.
Credit: Shoals
The North Carolina verdict follows closely with previous decisions by the International Trade Commission that Voltage did infringe upon Shoals patents and violated Section 337 of the Tariff Act by importing infringing LYNX trunk bus products into the United States. The LYNX product has been found to infringe on Shoals’ patents covering aspects of its Big Lead Assembly (BLA) products.
“Shoals’ patented BLA solution helped revolutionize the solar industry,” said Brandon Moss, CEO of Shoals. “These outcomes affirm the strength of our intellectual property and the importance of protecting the innovations behind our differentiated solutions. We are grateful to the Court and jury for their time, attention, and careful consideration. Shoals will continue to compete aggressively, invest in American manufacturing and defend the technology that supports our long-term growth.”
Voltage’s next-generation trunk bus solution — LYNX PLUS — was found to not infringe on the Shoals patents, and the company will continue to market the redesigned solutions in the United States.
Voltage released a statement, strongly disagreeing with the jury’s verdict and confirming it would pursue post-trial remedies.
“We are confident in our record for appeal and the Court’s prior findings that Shoals violated an agreement prohibiting its counsel’s involvement in obtaining these patents,” said Li Wang, CEO of Voltage Energy. “Voltage independently developed LYNX in 2021 through its own engineering efforts, three years before the patents asserted by Shoals were issued. Our focus remains on proudly powering the renewable energy industry.”
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