Prior art

US patent 10230009, titled "Solar cell and method for manufacturing the same," was granted on March 12, 2019, and is currently active with an anticipated expiration date of November 27, 2035. It is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/643,180 filed on July 6, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/953,264 filed on November 27, 2015 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,722,104, issued on August 1, 2017). The patent also claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2014-0168624 filed on November 28, 2014, and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0122846 filed on August 31, 2015.

As of April 15, 2026, claims 1-17 of US Patent 10230009 have been found unpatentable by the USPTO's Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) in multiple Inter Partes Review (IPR) cases, including IPR2025-00006 and IPR2025-00917. This means these claims are no longer considered valid.

To identify the most relevant prior art, a detailed examination of the 97 patent citations listed for US10230009B2 would typically be conducted through a dedicated USPTO search interface, which is not fully replicated by the provided search capabilities. However, based on the information available, the most directly relevant prior art is often the parent patent in a continuation chain.

Therefore, U.S. Patent No. 9,722,104 B2, titled "Solar Cell and Method for Manufacturing the Same," is highly relevant prior art.

Here's the information for that reference:

• Full Citation: U.S. Patent No. 9,722,104 B2
• Publication/Filing Date: Issued on August 1, 2017, from an application filed on November 27, 2015.
• Brief Description: This patent is directed to solar cell architecture and manufacturing techniques, covering structural and process innovations relevant to improving solar cell efficiency and production scalability. US10230009B2 is a continuation of this patent, extending coverage to solar cell manufacturing methods. Specifically, while the '104 patent discloses that passivation films and anti-reflection layers may include various materials, the '009 patent additionally discloses that the passivation films can also be formed of a plurality of layers.
• Potentially Anticipates Under 35 U.S.C. § 102: Given that US10230009B2 is a continuation of US9722104B2, and the claims of US10230009B2 have been found unpatentable, it's highly probable that many, if not all, of the claims of US10230009B2 were anticipated by US9722104B2 under 35 U.S.C. § 102. This is particularly true for claims relating to the core solar cell architecture and manufacturing techniques, with the '009 patent offering incremental distinctions such as the multi-layer passivation films. The PTAB's decision finding claims 1-17 of US10230009 unpatentable strongly supports the view that these claims were not novel or were obvious in light of prior art, likely including its parent patent.