Case: Patents/Obviousness (P.T.A.B.)

Challenged claims of Maxeon Solar Pte. Ltd.'s patent directed to solar cell fabrication techniques to improve solar cell lifetime, passivation and/or efficiency aren’t unpatentable as obvious over prior art, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board said, in an inter partes review by Hanwha Solutions Corporation. The board determined that the challenged claims aren’t obvious over various combinations of prior art, including prior art directed to a solar cell which is capable of improving reliability and maximizing efficiency, that analyzes the passivation quality of different phosphorous-doped front surface field diffusion profiles, and that reports on studies conducted to assess the utility ...