Recently an increasing number of Chinese smart phone makers have been exploring overseas markets, as a result of which, the number of patent infringement cases launched against them has also risen. Different actors in the sector have dealt with these kinds of infringement suits in various ways…
Huawei has gone on the offensive in patent litigation / Source: Huawei Press Photo
Chinese smart phone maker Huawei Technologies announced in May that the company was suing South Korean rival Samsung Electronics for infringement of its smart phone patents. Huawei has sued five companies at the Quanzhou Intermediate People's Court in China, including Samsung, claiming that 16 Samsung smart phone models, including the Galaxy S7, infringe Huawei patents, demanding RMB80 million (US$12 million) in damages.
After filing the Samsung suit, Huawei also filed an infringement suit against T-Mobile, the fourth largest telecom operator in the US. According to Huawei, T-Mobile refused to accept patent licensing agreements but continued to use its 4G LTE related communication patents.
The uptick in this kind of litigation, aimed at getting a competitive edge in the market, points to increasing saturation of the smart phone market. But a more interesting question is how Chinese smart phone makers are dealing with infringement suits.
Thus far, different companies have adopted different strategies, with some denying infringement, some actively buying up patents and others going on the offensive by filing their own suits.
Denial: Meizu
In June 23, Qualcomm filed suit against Meizu with the Beijing Intellectual Property Court for owing outstanding patent licensing fees, asking for RMB520 million (US$78 million) damages. Meizu claimed its innocence at a brief press conference after Qualcomm filed the suit, however, stating that the Qualcomm patents are standard essential patents (SEPs) and that Qualcomm did not offer them under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, as required by the standard setting organization (SSO).
On June 30 Qualcomm then filed infringement suits against Meizu covering a broad range of features and technologies used in smart phones, including those relating to 3G (WCDMA and CDMA2000) and 4G (LTE) wireless communications standards. The complaints were filed with the Intellectual Property Courts in Beijing and Shanghai, and Qualcomm requested RMB17 million (US$2.5 million) in damages.【unfinished; for further reading: IP Observer 004:How Chinese Smart Phone Makers Deal with Patent Infringement Cases Filed Against Them】
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