Huawei to use its large patent bag against U.S. firms

Huawei is currently under US restriction, which prohibits the company from doing business with American firms, in responding, the Chinese telecom giant is ready to redeem its advantage over the US firm for critical technology.

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According to Anaqua’s AcclaimIP, Huawei holds 56,492 active patents on telecommunications, networking, and other high-tech inventions worldwide. And now it’s pursuing patent fees from the American firms after being restricted in the country, reported Bloomberg.

Currently, Huawei is holding talks with US telecoms Verizon seeking over $1 billion as 5G patent fees and is in a dispute with chipmaker Qualcomm over the value of patents. Huawei has also charged against Harris Corp after the defense contractor sued it last year alleging infringement of patents for networking and cloud security.

“Patents are, at their basic level, weapons of economic warfare,” said Brad Hulbert, a patent lawyer with McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff in Chicago. “They’re being hurt by the sanctions that the Trump administration imposed and saying, ‘You have hurt us and our ability to sell, and we can hurt back.’ It’s a saber-rattling.”

The US has continuesly accused Huawei that it can use network equipment for espionage, which the company repeatedly denied. Moreover, Donal Trump also, pursuing allies countries to bar Huawei from 5G network development.

In May, Trump signed ‘Entity List’ to ban Huawei and its affiliates to the from buying components and software from American firms.

It’s possible that Huawei may pursue more US firms who are using its patent technologies and they eventually have to pay the Chinese telecom giant a royalty.