Huawei filed a lawsuit in a Chinese language courtroom, alleging that MediaTek has dedicated patent infringement
Chipmaker MediaTek confirmed that it has been slapped with a lawsuit from Huawei that alleges the previous is responsible of patent infringement. Whereas additional particulars — reminiscent of which patents are particularly in query — have but to be revealed, it’s extensively speculated that the case, which was filed in a Chinese language courtroom, is a part of the Chinese language vendor’s efforts to extend income by way of licensing charges and royalties.
Huawei doesn’t disclose its licensing revenue, however is thought to be one of many business’s largest patent holders and in 2022, it accrued $560 million in royalty charges. By the top of final yr, the corporate had 140,000 world patents, with round 200 licensing and cross-licensing agreements, together with a world patent licensing settlement with Ericsson that spans 3G, 4G and 5G community infrastructure and client gadgets, in addition to across-license settlement with Amazon that resolved pending litigation between the 2. Further licensing agreements made in 2023 embrace these with Xiaomi, Sharp and vivo.
The much less pleasant aspect of the 2023 story tells of one other patent lawsuit from Huawei, this one geared toward Netgear, arguing that among the U.S.-based Wi-Fi tools vendor’s Wi-Fi 6 merchandise infringe on Huawei’s standard-essential patents (SEPs) for Wi-Fi. Earlier this yr, nonetheless, Netgear fired again with one other lawsuit that claims Huawei is “weaponizing” its huge patent portfolio, and in doing so, is in violation of U.S. antitrust regulation.
Huawei started to extra aggressively safe — and litigate towards — patent offers starting in 2021 as a response to rising licensing charges stemming from more and more restrictive U.S. sanctions. In Might 2019, the U.S. Division of Commerce added Huawei to its Entity Record, a choice that successfully banned the corporate from shopping for components and parts from U.S. corporations with out U.S. authorities approval. Beneath the order, Huawei wants a U.S. authorities license to purchase parts from U.S. suppliers.
