Shanghai Aiko Solar Energy Co., Ltd. (600732.SH) has announced the signing of a patent license agreement with Maxeon Solar Pte. Ltd. Under the terms of the agreement, Aiko Solar has obtained a license for all of Maxeon's existing and future, solely or jointly owned, back-contact (BC) battery and module patents outside the United States for the next five years. The agreement notably does not involve any grant-back license provisions. The total patent licensing fee amounts to 1.65 billion yuan, which the company will pay in installments over the coming five-year period. The licensing fee for the first year is set at 250 million yuan. According to the announcement, Shanghai Aiko Solar Energy has already established a robust patent portfolio in the BC technology field. With the addition of nearly a thousand patents licensed from Maxeon, the collaboration is expected to build a more solid and comprehensive patent protection moat for both parties in the BC technology sector.