"200 million compensation" veteran Dico Co., Ltd. announces signing a patent license agreement

Author: Lu Yu

April 7, 2026, four days later, Dico Co., Ltd. issued another patent announcement.

This time, it’s no longer about “two billion yuan” and suing someone, but an announcement regarding a subsidiary signing a patent licensing agreement.

According to the announcement, on April 3, 2026, Dico Co. held a board meeting and approved the “Proposal for Signing a Licensing Agreement,” whereby its subsidiary Zhejiang Sote Materials Technology Co., Ltd. signed a “Patent Licensing Agreement” with a certain company (including its subsidiaries). The license grants non-exclusive, global, non-transferable patent rights under the patent for thick film pastes containing lead oxide, tellurium oxide, and other oxides, with a license period from the effective date of the agreement until the patent expires.

Just before the Qingming Festival, on the last working day, Dico Co. also announced a new “two billion yuan” claim case.

Two billion yuan has become a symbolic “number” in Sote Materials’ repeated rights protection efforts.

First case: sued Changzhou Juhe for two billion yuan, and the two sides reached a settlement after a year

On August 31, 2021, Jiangsu Sote, a subsidiary of Dico Co., sued Changzhou Juhe for infringing its legal rights by manufacturing and selling monocrystalline silicon positive silver paste products falling within the scope of invention patents ZL201180032359.1 and ZL201180032701.8, requesting the Jiangsu Suzhou Intermediate People’s Court to order the company to stop infringement and compensate for economic losses and reasonable expenses each case amounting to 100 million yuan.

Ultimately, the two sides reached a settlement in August 2022.

Second case: sued Zhejiang Guangda Electronics for two billion yuan, with initial results in a month

On November 6, 2025, Dico Co.’s controlling subsidiary Zhejiang Sote Materials Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as: Sote Materials) sued Zhejiang Guangda Electronics Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as: Guangda Electronics) again at the Zhejiang High People’s Court for infringing patent ZL201180032359.1, claiming 200 million yuan in damages. This time, the claim was based on just one patent.

The lawsuit was initiated while the listed company Fuda Alloy (stock code: 603045) was preparing to acquire a 52.61% stake in Guangda Electronics for 352 million yuan, forming a dual-driven development layout of “electrical contact materials + photovoltaic silver paste.”

Possibly influenced by this lawsuit, on December 15, 2025, Fuda Alloy announced that the company’s board of directors agreed to terminate the major asset restructuring.

Third and fourth cases: sued two Jiangsu companies for four billion yuan, progress unknown

On January 26, 2026, Wuxi Dico Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. (Dico Co., Ltd., 300842) announced a major litigation matter.

The announcement shows that Dico Co. sued Jiangsu Ryu Photovoltaic New Materials Co., Ltd. and Suzhou Jingyin New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. at the Zhejiang High People’s Court for infringement of invention patents. The cases have been accepted, with case numbers (2026) Su Zhi Min Chu 1 and (2026) Su Zhi Min Chu 2.

Each case claims 200 million yuan, totaling 400 million yuan. The two involved patents are exactly the same as those in the above cases: patents ZL201180032359.1 (“Thick film paste containing lead-tellurium-lithium-titanium oxides and their use in manufacturing semiconductor devices”) and ZL201180032701.8 (“Thick film paste containing lead tellurium-lithium oxides and their use in semiconductor device manufacturing”).

The progress of these two cases is currently unclear.

Fifth case: sued Zhejiang Kaiying New Materials for two billion yuan

On April 3, 2026, Wuxi Dico Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. (Dico Co., Ltd., 300842) announced a major litigation matter. Due to the infringement of invention patents by defendant Zhejiang Kaiying New Materials Co., Ltd. and its Shanghai branch (referred to as: Kaiying New Materials), a lawsuit was filed with the Shanghai High People’s Court.

In this case, Sote Materials again claimed that patents ZL201180032359.1 and ZL201180032701.8, related to photovoltaic conductive silver paste, were infringed by Kaiying New Materials, and sued the court, demanding two billion yuan in damages.

Conclusion

Over five years, five “two billion yuan” claim cases have been launched domestically, with more than half making progress or reaching settlement.

Overall, the effect is significant, providing a positive example for the debate over whether rights protection solely within China can achieve the expected results.

And perhaps the real behind-the-scenes force guiding Dico Co.’s patent licensing strategy is the core planner behind these cases, which is worth paying attention to as a positive energy driving the exploration of patent licensing within China.

Based on some publicly available information, this behind-the-scenes force is likely the same entity as Maxeon and Aisico, which recently reached a 1.65 billion yuan patent licensing agreement in the photovoltaic industry.

These methods—litigation and expected settlement within a certain timeframe—are actually what a healthy patent system should demonstrate, rather than endless cycles of lawsuits.

Therefore, it can be seen that the settlement cases handled by this behind-the-scenes entity are not simple, and their licensing experience within China is worth learning and referencing for more industry peers.