Afriforum takes UJ to court for allegedly “hijacking” solar panel patent

Afriforum has served the University of Johannesburg (UJ) with a court papers over a PAIA application seeking information about the alleged “hijacking” of the intellectual property and assets of a former professor at the university.
The civil rights organisation alleged that the university’s executive and board members participated in fraud and corruption by transferring patented technology for producing thin-film solar modules to a private company between 2014 and 2017.
The technology was developed by former UJ professor Vivian Alberts over 20 years.
It was patented in more than 100 countries by the Photovoltaic Technology Intellectual Property (PTiP) starting in 2007.
PTiP is a spinoff company from UJ that Alberts co-founded in 2005 to commercialise the thin-film solar technology.
With financing from UJ, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), and German engineering company Singulus, PTiP opened the continent’s first semi-commercial plant for producing and marketing thin-film solar modules in Stellenbosch in 2014.
Afriforum said the alleged hijacking of PTiP’s intellectual and commercial assets occurred after the technology was successfully commercialised in Germany and China.
The organisation said the primary purpose of its PAIA application on behalf of Alberts was to obtain a forensic audit report dealing with the alleged corrupt activities regarding the hijacking and exploitation of his intellectual property.
“By gathering this information, AfriForum hopes to uncover and address possible corruption and fraud at UJ,” said Afrifroum campaign officer for strategy and content, Ernst van Zyl.
“It is unacceptable and illegal if prominent role players at UJ abused their power to illegally transfer intellectual property to a private company for the purpose of self-enrichment.”
Alberts is no stranger to legal issues
This is not the first time Alberts encountered legal hurdles threatening his invention.
In 2013, he had to fight off a challenge from one of the world’s biggest vehicle parts makers — Bosch.
This came after the company had acquired Johanna Solar Technology (JST), which had been granted a licence to use PTiP’s patent for manufacturing solar panels in Germany.
Bosch had alleged that Alberts’ invention lacked novelty, inventive steps, and clearly defined key process conditions.
The European Patent Office (EPO) ruled against Bosch after a 13-hour hearing in November 2015, rejecting all the company’s legal and technical objections.
In an interview with Engineering News, Alberts labelled that development as a major victory for South African-based intellectual property rights.
The thin-film module developed by Alberts is manufactured by converting basic raw materials through 15 production processes.
The active materials in the thin-film module have a thickness of just 2 microns (µm), compared to the 300µm thickness of first-generation silicon-based modules.
The major benefit of this invention is that it can significantly reduce the cost of manufacturing solar modules.
Competing companies that also specialise in thin-film technologies include US manufacturer First Solar.