Huawei files patent infringement lawsuits against Verizon

Today, Huawei filed patent infringement lawsuits against Verizon in the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Texas, seeking compensation for Verizon’s use of patent technology that is protected by 12 of Huawei’s US patent.

“Verizon’s products and services have benefited from patented technology that Huawei developed over many years of research and development,” said Dr. Song Liuping, Huawei’s Chief Legal Officer.

In June last year, a report revealed that Huawei held talks with Verizon that it should pay licensing fees for more than 230 of Huawei’s patent.

“Before filing the lawsuits in Texas, Huawei negotiated with Verizon for a significant period of time, during which the company provided a detailed list of patents and factual evidence of Verizon’s use of Huawei patents. The two parties were unable to reach an agreement on license terms,” wrote Huawei.

Huawei says it is simply asking Verizon to respect Huawei’s investment in research and development by either paying for the use of our patents or refraining from using them in its products and services.

Huawei re-invests 10% to 15% of its revenue in R&D each year. The company has spent more than $70 billion US dollars on R&D in the past decade, which has resulted in more than 80,000 patents worldwide – including over 10,000 patents in the United States alone, mentioned the Chinese telecom giant.

In 2018, Huawei’s R&D expenditure reached US$15 billion dollars, close to 15% of the company’s annual revenue. Huawei was ranked fifth on the 2019 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, published by European Commission.