According to CCTV reports, through the litigation mediation of the Higher People’s Court of Guangdong Province, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., and Samsung (China) Investment Co. Ltd. finally reached a global settlement in a series of patent infringement disputes involving standard-essential patents. In the past eight years, the two sides have filed more than 40 lawsuits in China and related countries.
With regard to the cross-licensing of standard-essential patents worldwide, the two parties have reached a framework of the Patent Licensing Agreement, and the relevant litigations have also been resolved in a package. They have now begun to withdraw their complaints. It is understood that since 2011, Huawei and Samsung have conducted negotiations on patent cross-licensing issues several times, but there has been no substantial progress.
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On January 11, 2018, the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court ruled that Samsung’s 4G mobile phone produced and sold in China infringed Huawei’s two patents, and Samsung immediately appealed to the Guangdong High Court. Under the repeated mediation of the Guangdong High Court, Huawei and Samsung finally reached a settlement, but the specific conditions for settlement have not been disclosed.
Just a month ago, Qualcomm and Apple reached a settlement, withdrew all relevant lawsuits and signed a six-year direct licensing agreement. After the completion of the Apple case, Qualcomm’s next target is Huawei. Qualcomm has also clearly stated that negotiations with Huawei are ongoing, and the settlement with Apple has enhanced its ability to solve problems with Huawei.
According to internal sources, Qualcomm and Huawei’s patent settlement negotiations have reached the final stage. Huawei’s annual patent fees may exceed $500 million. This is mainly because Huawei has a large number of patents in the field of communications, especially 5G technology so Huawei can cross-license patents with Qualcomm, thereby greatly reducing the core licensing patent fees. These ccourt cases have lingered for too long and it appears that both parties are ready to put an end to it.
