Solus Advanced Materials announced on the 13th that it has completed customer mass production approval for domestic large-sized television electron transport layer (Electron Transport Layer: ETL) products and has begun supply.
The electron transport layer for large-sized televisions, which Solus Advanced Materials has successfully entered, has been a domain previously monopolized by Germany's Novaled. However, Solus Advanced Materials entered the next-generation model due to improved driving voltage and lifetime performance of the newly developed electron transport layer product and is currently supplying it in mass production.
The electron transport layer market has been a competitive arena for Solus Advanced Materials and Germany's Novaled. Both companies have resorted to legal battles over the patents for the technology. This patent dispute began in 2021 when Solus Advanced Materials initiated patent cancellation procedures in Europe regarding Novaled's electron transport layer patent in Germany.
Earlier, Solus Advanced Materials judged that Novaled's electron transport layer materials infringed on its patent filed in 2016 and filed an objection. In 2022, the German Patent Court limited Novaled's patent rights through a ruling, determining that it was unrelated to the electron transport layer products available in the market at the time. This result directly reflected the claims made by Solus Advanced Materials, achieving its objective of restricting Novaled's patent rights.
In this regard, it has been confirmed that the electron transport layer-related patent, which recently Solus Advanced Materials received a patent invalidation ruling on, was invalidated not due to Novaled's patent but rather due to its similarity to prior patents held by Solus Advanced Materials. Additionally, this patent was applied to previous generation models, ultimately allowing Solus Advanced Materials to successfully enter the previously monopolized market of Novaled with its new third-generation electron transport layer, concluding the patent battle in favor of Solus Advanced Materials.
A representative from Solus Advanced Materials stated, "The ruling for the invalidation of existing patents has no impact on Solus Advanced Materials' entry into new business ventures," adding, "The new order is significant in that it demonstrates our entry into a previously monopolized market by foreign companies with our domestic technological capabilities, as more advanced next-generation models continue to be developed and can be applied in new environments."