PVTIME – On 30 April 2026, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) announced a partial final ruling in Investigation No. 337-TA-1438 concerning photovoltaic trunk bus cable assemblies and their components. The administrative law judge (ALJ) will review the Final Initial Determination (FID) to establish whether the complainant meets the economic requirements for domestic industry status; however, other portions will not be reviewed. Comments on the partial review, proposed relief measures, and related public interests must be submitted by 15 May 2026.
On 9 February 2026, the ITC issued a ruling affirming the ALJ’s initial determination on infringement and proposed relief, made on 6 February 2026. If infringement is confirmed, a limited exclusion order is recommended for infringing products exported to, imported into, or sold in the US by the named respondents: Voltage, LLC (Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA) and Ningbo Voltage Smart Production Co. (Ningbo, Zhejiang, China). Comments on the proposed measures and public interests were due by 9 March 2026.
On 18 September 2025, the ITC declined to review the ALJ’s Initial Determination (No. 29) of 19 August 2025, thereby terminating the investigation into the claims under US Patent Nos. 12,015,375 (Claims 2–4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 15–19, 21–24) and 12,015,376 (Claims 2–6, 9, 13–16, 18–20), following the withdrawal of the complaint.
The ITC upheld the ALJ’s Initial Determination (No. 19) on 19 August 2025, partially granting the complainant’s motion to find no patent unenforceability, citing the lack of ‘but-for materiality’ in the alleged concealed information. However, the ALJ noted material factual issues regarding other aspects of unenforceability, including serious misconduct and unclean hands, and dismissed these allegations.
On 11 February 2025, the ITC voted to initiate Investigation No. 337-TA-1438 into the aforementioned photovoltaic products. This followed a complaint filed on 10 January 2025 by Shoals Technologies Group, LLC (based in Portland, Tennessee, US), which alleged that products imported into or sold in the US infringed US Patent Nos. 12,015,375 and 12,015,376, thereby violating Section 337 of the US Tariff Act. The complainant sought a limited exclusion order and injunction.
The named respondents in the investigation are Voltage, LLC (Chapel Hill, North Carolina, US) and Ningbo Voltage Smart Production Co. (Ningbo, Zhejiang, China).
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