General Electric Co. asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA for importing and selling equipment based on GE's patented wind turbine technology in the U.S.

At issue are patents for technology that allows variable-speed wind generators to remain online and undamaged during low- and zero-voltage events that can occur during power disruptions.

The complaint comes as the two companies, among the top wind turbine manufacturers in the world, wrestle with one another for larger shares for the U.S. market.

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, based in Spain, a subsidiary of Munich-based Siemens AG, said in a statement to S&P Global Market Intelligence that, "On July 31, 2020 General Electric Company filed a complaint against Siemens Gamesa at the U.S. International Trade Commission seeking an exclusion order against Siemens Gamesa's importation of wind turbine equipment into the United States, which has not been served yet and which we will be defending."

Siemens Gamesa said its wind turbine components "do not infringe any valid third parties' intellectual property rights."

GE asked for permanent cease-and-desist orders prohibiting "importation, sale, offer for sale, advertising, marketing, distributing, or the solicitation of any sale" of the components at issue by Siemens.

In 2010, GE filed a similar complaint in U.S. District Court against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas Inc. for infringing on one of the patents at issue in the present case. After a jury trial in Texas in 2012, a court handed down a judgement in favor of GE and awarded it $166.7 million for lost profits and $3.4 million in royalty damages. A judge issued a permanent injunction against Mitsubishi, and the two parties reached a settlement in December, 2013, the complaint said.

Siemens uses the technology on a variety of its onshore and offshore turbines, and has known of patent infringement violations since 2018, the complaint alleged. EDF Renewables and MidAmerican Energy Co., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, are among the companies that have entered into contracts with Siemens for the turbine components at issue, according to the complaint.

GE listed several projects for which Siemens supplied the wind turbine components that GE lays claim to, including the planned 247.4-MW Oso Grande Wind Project in New Mexico, under development by Fortis Inc. subsidiary Tucson Electric Power Co., as well as MidAmerican's planned 250-MW Southern Hills Wind Project in Iowa.