Maxeon Solar Technologies has initiated a patent infringement lawsuit against Aiko Solar, accusing it of infringing on Maxeon’s All Back Contact (ABC) proprietary cell architecture. The lawsuit was filed in Mannheim District Court, Germany, and also names distributor Memodo, plus two local subsidiaries Aiko Energy Germany and Solarlab Aiko Europe. Aiko Solar is a leading Chinese manufacturer, not one of the largest but occupying a leading position on quality, with a 24%-efficient module. Prior to its release at the Shanghai SNEC exhibition, Aiko was selling a likewise market-leading module with 23.6% efficiency, in both cases thanks to its ABC technology. The specific infringement alleged by Maxeon is of European Patent No. EP2297788B1, which relates to Back-Contact (xBC) cell architectures, which…