Huawei sues Samsung over mobile patents

Chinese tech giant Huawei is taking rival Samsung to court in China and the United States over alleged patent infringement.

It is the first case of a domestic manufacturer taking on the world's largest smartphone vendor.

Huawei said the dispute involves the fourth-generation wireless standard in the US, while in China it relates to 4G standards as well as other smartphone functions.

Media reports said the company claims its South Korean counterpart has infringed on as many as 11 patents related to such technologies.

Huawei, the world's third-largest smartphone maker, did not say how much it is seeking in compensation.

The company said: "Huawei has every right to seek reasonable compensation from any firm that uses our technology without a license. A lawsuit is a legal means in this respect, (but) we look forward to finding a better way out, together with Samsung. We are open to negotiations....

"Huawei believes all players in the industry should work together to push the sector forward through open, joint innovations," the company said.

"We hope Samsung will respect Huawei's intellectual property rights and R&D (research and development) achievements, and stop infringing on our patents."

Samsung China said the corporation would take appropriate action to defend its business interests.

By the end of last year, Huawei had 50,377 authorized patents and had applied for 52,550 in China and 30,613 abroad, according the company's annual report.

The report shows that the company, which is based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, spent 59.6 billion yuan ($9.08 billion), or 15.1 percent of its revenue, on research and development last year and more than 240 billion yuan over the past decade.

Huawei has patent cross-licensing agreements with dozens of companies, including Apple. Payments for such technology licenses are estimated to reach hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

According to US consulting firm Gartner, Huawei sold nearly 28.9 million smartphones in the first quarter of this year, accounting for 8.3 percent of the worldwide market. Samsung and Apple occupied 23.2 percent and 14.8 percent respectively.

Contact the writers at heyini@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/26/2016 page1)