DuPont Files Lawsuit against Heraeus, SolarWorld to Protect Intellectual Property

DuPont yesterday filed a lawsuit against Heraeus Materials Technology, LLC and its customer SolarWorld Industries America, Inc. in U.S. Federal Court for the District of Oregon for infringing a recently issued DuPont patent related to front-side metallization paste compositions used in solar cell technology. In its complaint, DuPont alleges that Heraeus and SolarWorld infringe DuPont U.S. Patent No. 8,158,504 B2, by manufacturing, selling and/or using Heraeus front-side silver pastes. "DuPont invests significant resources in scientific innovation to solve global challenges and we protect that knowledge through strong and robust patents," said David B. Miller, president, DuPont Electronics & Communications. "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. 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." The suit follows another patent infringement suit DuPont filed against Heraeus in September 2011, which is ongoing.