Tesla's planned solar factory in Texas has recently become involved in a U.S. patent lawsuit between two Chinese solar equipment manufacturers. Both companies are competing for the ingot growth furnaces required for Tesla to achieve its 100 gigawatt goal.

Linton Crystal Technologies, headquartered in Rochester, New York, is wholly owned by Dalian Linton of China. Last week, it filed a lawsuit against Zhejiang Jingsheng in a federal court in Texas. Chinese industry reports indicate that Jingsheng won a crystal pulling equipment order from Tesla earlier this year worth approximately 3 billion yuan (about 420 million US dollars).

Two patents regarding how to improve silicon seed crystals

This lawsuit was filed on September 22 at the Marshall Division of the U.S. Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. For many years, this has been a preferred venue for patent plaintiffs.

Linton claims two U.S. patents, numbered 11,255,024 and 11,814,746, both titled "Seed Crystal Lifting and Rotation System for Crystal Growth." These patents relate to a part of the crystal pulling furnace used by Czochralski ( CZ ). The CZ crystal pulling furnace is a type of furnace that slowly pulls single-crystal silicon ingots from molten silicon. According to the patent documents, the design of Linton uses roller guides installed in the spiral grooves of the rollers to replace the usual lead screws, in order to lift and rotate the seed crystal.

The first patent was approved in February 2022, with a protection period lasting until 2040.

Linton demands compensation, specifically triple damages for intentional infringement, as well as a permanent injunction. This last item is the part that is most relevant to Tesla.

Jingsheng, which is listed in Shenzhen and valued at approximately 53 billion yuan, disclosed this lawsuit to investors on September 24. The company stated that the “technical solutions used in its products are completely different from those of the patent in question” and has not yet officially received the service notice, and it is expected that this will not have a significant impact on its business.

Linton Board member Todd Barnum described this case as a defense of American innovation. He said that the company's engineers "have invested decades of effort in Rochester, New York, to develop industry-leading crystal growth technology." Linton Indeed, its origins can be traced back to 1952 in Rochester. However, since its parent company is listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange, this is actually a dispute between two Chinese companies, which is being conducted through an American affiliated company in a court in Texas.

Tesla's position among them

Tesla is not a party to this lawsuit, nor has either Tesla or Jingsheng confirmed this order.

However, Chinese trade media provided a rather detailed timeline: Tesla's bidding for 210-mm single-crystal pulling equipment, slicing equipment, and quartz crucibles ended in February, the contract was signed in March, delivery began in April, and it is planned to complete all deliveries in the third quarter. It is reported that Jingsheng won the bid for the pulling equipment, while Linton, which is a direct competitor of this pulling equipment, did not win the bid.

This is consistent with what we have tracked before. In March, there were reports in the market that Tesla was in talks to acquire Chinese solar equipment worth $2.9 billion, with plans to deliver it by this fall. In August, Tesla submitted an application for a factory worth $10.1 billion, named “Project Crystal Sun”, located in Fort Bend County, Texas. The factory will cover the entire process from ingot growth to finished components and is scheduled to begin production at the beginning of 2029.

Ingot drawing is the first step in the entire process chain. Without drawing equipment, there would be no silicon wafers, nor would there be battery cells.

Both of these suppliers are also under pressure. Jingsheng’s revenue in the first half of 2026 decreased by about 40% year-on-year, while Dalian Linton recorded a small loss during the same period, due to an oversupply of photovoltaic manufacturing capacity in China that suppressed equipment orders. For any company, orders from the United States on this scale are of great significance.

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A Chinese industry expert cited by 21st Century Business Herald described this case as the weaker party using patents as bargaining chips in negotiations. Linton holds US patents through its Rochester subsidiary, and Jingsheng has clearly secured Tesla's business. The Eastern District Court of Texas is precisely the place where you would go when you want to put pressure on the defendant.

We believe that this lawsuit itself will not directly cause any significant damage. Patent cases at the Marshall Circuit often take many years to resolve. Jingsheng claims that its design is different, and it is not easy to obtain an injunction against equipment that is allegedly already shipped to Texas. A more likely outcome is a settlement or a licensing agreement.

But this also reminds people of a fact that is often obscured by the narrative of "American-made solar energy." Tesla aims to achieve 100 gigawatts of solar energy manufacturing capacity in the United States by the end of 2028, which is approximately 300 times its current production capacity in Buffalo. The only way to reach this scale is to purchase production lines from China. This means that Tesla will also inherit the problems of China's supply chain: not only does it have to deal with export approval processes from Beijing, but it now also faces lawsuits in U.S. courts between Chinese suppliers over orders.

Tesla has previously also promised to revive its solar business. This time, it is indeed investing funds, and we acknowledge that. The question is, when the devices themselves become caught up in disputes between suppliers, will it be able to get the production lines up and running on time?

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