Tesla’s solar factory dragged into patent war between Chinese suppliers

Tesla’s planned solar factory in Texas has landed in the middle of a US patent lawsuit between two Chinese solar equipment makers, both chasing the ingot-growing furnaces Tesla needs to hit its 100 GW goal.

Linton Crystal Technologies, a Rochester, New York company wholly owned by China’s Dalian Linton, sued Zhejiang Jingsheng in a Texas federal court last week. Chinese industry reports say Jingsheng won a roughly 3 billion yuan (about $420 million) Tesla order for crystal pullers earlier this year.

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