Westinghouse Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: WEST) filed a patent-infringement complaint on Tuesday with the U.S. International Trade Commission against Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) and Zep Solar Inc.
Westinghouse claims the rival companies have made and imported products that infringe upon two of their patents that make solar panels easier and cheaper to install.
Westinghouse wants to launch and investigation of the two accused companies and ultimately seek to block imports of solar power systems made by Canadian Solar and Zep Solar.
According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Westinghouse’s CEO Barry Cinnamon said in a statement, “Unfortunately, we believe that Zep Solar, Canadian Solar and others have not appropriately recognized Westinghouse Solar’s intellectual property rights by incorporating a system – the Zep System – that we contend infringes certain of our patents. As a consequence, we have turned to the ITC to address this issue.”
The ITC investigates unfair trading practices and has the power to ban imports that violate U.S. patent laws.
Westinghouse Solar Inc. designs and installs solar-power systems and is based in Campbell, California.
Until Next Time,
Cori
