A previous post discussed the legal action brought by Brazilian developer Desenvix to compel Chinese wind turbine maker Sinovel to permit inspections of its turbines being imported into Brazil.
Due to the major copyright and trade secret lawsuits in China in which American Superconductor (AMSC) has accused Sinovel of misappropriation of proprietary wind turbine control source code, Desenvix sought assurances that the Sinovel wind turbines were free of components affected by the IP litigation.
According to this Recharge story, Desenvix has received satisfactory assurances and has withdrawn its request for a court order. Apparently, Sinovel told the Brazilian company that the control systems in the turbines were supplied by Emerson Electric, and Emerson confirmed.
Desenvix also said Sinovel confirmed that the control software in the turbines at issue is a “brand-new innovation” developed by the Chinese manufacturer. Finally, Sinovel has agreed to permit an independent third party to conduct a technical inspection of the control systems.
So Sinovel’s troubles in Brazil have passed, for the moment. The company also faced some business damage in Ireland when Mainstream Renewable Power ditched Sinovel and began to look for an alternative supplier for 1 GW of wind farm projects planned there. Clearly, accusations of IP infringement can have major ramifications outside the courtroom.
Eric Lane is a patent attorney at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP in San Diego and the author of Green Patent Blog. Mr. Lane can be reached at elane@mckennalong.com
