GE settles wind turbine patent disputes with Siemens Gamesa

(Reuters) -General Electric Co has settled all its outstanding wind turbine technology patent disputes in the United States and Europe with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy S.A, the companies said on Friday.

Terms of the settlement, which was described as amicable, were not disclosed. Under the deal, the companies and their subsidiaries will receive cross licenses for the patents in question.

Siemens Gamesa had sued GE for patent infringement in 2020 over the latter’s Haliade-X turbines. Last year, a Boston federal judge barred GE from making and selling its Haliade-X wind turbines in the United States, after a jury found they infringed a patent owned by Siemens Gamesa.

But GE was allowed to continue making and operating the turbines for existing projects off the coasts of Massachusetts and New Jersey with royalty payments to Siemens Gamesa.

In February, the same judge ruled GE must double its patent royalty payments to Siemens Gamesa for the turbines it uses in a renewable energy project off the New Jersey coast.

The settlement announced Friday removes an overhang on GE’s renewable business, which has struggled to turn a profit in recent quarters due to a combination of weak demand, higher raw materials and labor costs and supply-chain pressures.

GE shares edged up 0.6% in early trade.

(Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram, additional reporting by Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)