China's highest court has barred Infineon from selling gallium nitride power chips on the mainland, handing a significant legal win to domestic rival Innoscience.
China's Supreme People's Court upheld an injunction against the German chipmaker on Friday, confirming that Infineon cannot sell the disputed GaN products in mainland China. The ruling favors Innoscience, which markets itself as a market leader in GaN power semiconductors. The case is one front in a multi-region patent war the two companies are fighting across multiple jurisdictions — meaning Innoscience is not just playing defense at home.
GaN chips have become the go-to technology for efficient power conversion in EV fast chargers, consumer USB-C adapters, and data center power supplies — a market expanding fast enough that jurisdictional access genuinely matters. China is the world's largest electronics manufacturing base, so an effective sales ban there is not a symbolic setback for Infineon; it cuts the chipmaker off from a major channel at precisely the moment GaN adoption is accelerating globally.
It is worth noting that Chinese courts ruling in favor of a Chinese company over a European one is not a shocking outcome. The real test of Innoscience's patent position will come when — and if — this fight moves to European or U.S. courts, where home-turf advantage flips.