Chinese giants lock horns over mobile tech patents
Chinese mobile communications companies Huawei Technologies Ltd. and ZTE Corporation, amicable competitors in the telecommunications business, are now engaged in competing patent infringement lawsuits in Europe.
At the end of April, Huawei filed lawsuits against ZTE in Germany, France, and Hungary for patent and trademark infringement. Huawei accused ZTE of infringing on its data card and LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology patents, and that it had even used one of Huawei's trademarks on some of its products without permission.
Huawei said it had sent cease and desist notices to ZTE, and invited the company "on numerous occasions" to come to some sort of licensing agreement over various patents and trademarks, including the designs pictured below.
American consumers might recognize the "rotating cap" design from products such as the T-Mobile WebConnect Stick, which is made by Huawei.
ZTE responded by saying it was "astonished" that Huawei had taken such action.
"ZTE respects and adheres to international intellectual property laws and regulations without reservation, and absolutely rejects that there has been any patent and trademark infringement. ZTE is always willing to negotiate on issues in good faith, but will definitely take vigorous legal action in situations like this to protect its interests and those of its customers worldwide," a statement from the company said.
The vigorous defense ZTE noted in its statement came in the form of a countersuit in Europe against Huawei, which coincided with reports of licensing negotiations between the two companies.
Though it is defending itself in court, ZTE has stated its belief that "patent competition should not be a source of competition between companies."