Two Chinese Solar Equipment Giants Fight a US Patent War Over a Tesla Order
Two of China’s biggest makers of solar manufacturing equipment are taking their rivalry to a US courtroom. Liancheng CNC, a Dalian-based supplier of crystal-growing furnaces and precision machine tools, has accused rival Jingsheng Mechanical & Electrical of patent infringement, according to Chinese tech outlet TMTPost. The dispute is unusual because both companies are Chinese, yet the fight is unfolding on American soil.
At the center of the case is a large order that industry watchers link to Tesla. Chinese reports put the value at roughly 3 billion yuan, or about 420 million US dollars, though the exact scope and buyer have not been confirmed publicly. That figure is large enough to matter for both firms, whose core business is the equipment that turns raw polysilicon into the silicon wafers and cells that make up solar panels.
Liancheng CNC and Jingsheng, based in Shangyu, Zhejiang province, are long-standing competitors in that niche. Both sell crystal pullers, grinding machines and other tools used in the early stages of solar cell production. As China’s solar industry has grown into the world’s dominant supplier of panels, its equipment makers have grown with it, and competition for big factory orders has become fierce.
A US patent lawsuit changes the playbook. Instead of competing purely on price and delivery speed in China, the companies are now arguing over intellectual property in a jurisdiction known for expensive litigation and potentially large damages. Filing in the United States may also reflect where the customer’s factories or contracts sit, since American courts can block imports or sales of products found to infringe.
The case comes as Chinese solar equipment firms look for growth beyond a crowded home market. Domestic panel manufacturing has been hit by overcapacity and falling prices, pushing suppliers to seek overseas customers in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. A major order from an American buyer such as Tesla, which has expanded into energy storage and solar-related products, would be a prized contract.
For Tesla, the interest is straightforward. The company has built a large energy business around batteries and solar, and controlling the cost and quality of upstream equipment matters. If Tesla is indeed the buyer behind the disputed order, the lawsuit could complicate its supply chain planning, forcing it to weigh legal risk against price and performance.
Patent fights between Chinese manufacturers are becoming more common as the country’s tech firms mature. Companies that once copied and caught up now hold their own portfolios and are willing to enforce them, sometimes against former domestic peers. Taking such a fight to the United States signals both confidence in their patents and a willingness to use foreign courts as a competitive weapon.
How the case unfolds will be watched closely by the wider solar supply chain. A ruling could shape who supplies equipment for some of the most advanced solar and energy-storage factories, and it may encourage other Chinese equipment makers to settle their differences in court rather than in pricing battles. For now, both companies are preparing for a legal contest that could take years and cost many millions, with a single Tesla-linked order hanging in the balance.