Zep Solar Inc., developer of a module-integrated PV installation platform, says that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has sided with the company by issuing an Action Closing Prosecution document that reaffirms the USPTO's prior rejections of every claim in Westinghouse Solar's patent #7,987,641 (the '641 patent).
Westinghouse had alleged in an October 2011 complaint to the International Trade Commission that Zep Solar was infringing its '641 patent. Zep Solar then sued Westinghouse Solar in December, alleging that Westinghouse Solar had infringed on its own patents.
The USPTO has now reaffirmed that all of Westinghouse's '641 patent claims are invalid, Zep Solar says.
‘The recent action by the USPTO greatly strengthens Zep Solar's position in the face of Westinghouse's patent infringement allegations,’ states Jack West, founder and CTO of Zep Solar. ‘This validates our assertion that the inventions described by the '641 patent were not invented by Westinghouse.’
A copy of the USPTO action can be accessed here, by referencing application number 95001704.
