(Yicai) Sept. 22 -- Shares of Longi Green Energy Technology and Jinko Solar fell despite the major Chinese solar panel giants announcing they reached an agreement to settle all their patent infringement disputes.

Longi [SHA: 601012] was trading down 2.4 percent at CNY16.50 (USD2.32) as of lunch break in Shanghai today. Jinko [SHA: 688223] fell 2.6 percent to CNY5.21 (73 US cents).

Longi and Jinko have terminated all patent litigation legal proceedings worldwide and reached a commercial arrangement on the cross-licensing of some core patents they hold, the pair announced in separate statements late on Sept. 19, without disclosing any further details about the settlement.

The companies will focus on accelerating the commercialization and application innovation of advanced technologies and explore further cooperation in the future, they added.

Longi's solar monocrystalline silicon wafer and module shipments have long ranked among the top worldwide. Jinko has been the leading global firm in solar module shipments for the past six consecutive years.

Jinko has taken the lead in terms of patents related to tunnel oxide passivated contact solar cell technology, while Longi has the most patents for back contact solar cell production technology. The firms sued each other several times, mostly over TOPCon technology patents.

Jinko has filed six patent lawsuits against Longi in countries such as China, Japan, and Australia since December last year, mainly about core technologies, such as TOPCon battery technology and component design and manufacturing.

Longi filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Jinko with the Intermediate People's Court of Jinan in February and another one against Jinko and its subsidiary with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in March.

Patent litigations between photovoltaic companies have surged since the start of last year. The patent war in China's PV sector keeps intensifying, and infringements have become a serious issue, industry insiders told Yicai earlier this year.

Longi's founder Li Zhenguo said in an interview with Yicai and other media early this year that he is worried about the current situation facing the PV industry.

The rapid development of the Chinese PV industry over the past 20 years is the result of the joint efforts of the entire industry, Li noted, adding that each company has its own unique patent achievements.

As the industry is facing an overall downward pressure, turning patents into 'weapons' will only exacerbate the chaos in the industry order, Li pointed out.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione