The agreement signed on Friday between Chinese telecommunications company Huawei and Swedish electronics manufacturer Ericsson is a long-term agreement that covers the companies’ access to 3GPP, ITU, IEEE and IETF standards for 3G, 4G and 5G cellular technologies. ing. JUVE Patent is not aware of any pending or ongoing litigation between the parties. The parties have not confirmed the exact terms of the agreement.
The last time the companies extended a cross-licensing agreement was in 2016. Over the past few years, both companies have actively contributed to the development of key mobile standards.
Earlier this year, the European Patent Office published the EPO Patent Index 2022. Huawei ranks first in terms of patents filed with his 4,505, while Ericsson ranks fifth with his 1,827. According to the Financial Times, Huawei currently owns 20% of the world’s patents, making it the world’s largest 5G patent holder. However, Ericsson appears to have 60,000 patents.
Huawei and Ericsson explore cooperation
Alan Huang, head of Huawei’s intellectual property department, said in a press release: As major contributors of standard-essential patents (SEPs) in mobile communications, both companies recognize the value of each other’s intellectual property, and this agreement will create a stronger patent environment. ”
Mr. Hwang went on to say, “This agreement is the result of intensive discussions that ensure that the interests of both patent holders and implementers are kept equitably.”
Christina Peterson joined Ericsson in 2019 as Chief Intellectual Property Officer. She said: “This agreement demonstrates the commitment of both parties that intellectual property should be respected and rewarded, and that cutting-edge innovation should be shared across the industry.” A balanced approach to licensing This ensures that the interests of both patent holders and implementers are equitably secured. ”
Together at Avanshi
Huawei and Ericsson are both included in Avanci’s patent pool, but the Chinese company is the latest addition after Avanci launched its 5G vehicle program earlier this month, and the company says it has “next-generation It simplifies the licensing of cellular technology used in connected cars.” ”.Other licensees include Samsung, Philips, Panasonic, and ZTE.
However, while Huawei and Ericsson are not involved in active patent litigation, towards the end of last year Huawei signaled an intention to become more litigious over its patent portfolio. This includes filing a lawsuit against automaker Stellantis over cellphone patents and starting a series of lawsuits against Amazon, Netgear, and AVM over Wi-Fi 6 patents.
Around the same time, in the midst of the US FRAND trial, Ericsson and Apple entered into a worldwide patent licensing agreement. This concludes one of the biggest disputes in recent years over implementation patents and SEPs, which spanned the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Colombia, and Brazil.
future conflicts
Recently, Huawei also filed an infringement suit against Netgear with the Munich Regional Office over EP 3 611 989, which covers methods and apparatus for transmitting wireless local area network information. Patents are a standard requirement.
As JUVE Patent announced last week, Huawei was nominated as “IP In-house Team of the Year” at this year’s JUVE Awards. Other candidates are Birkenstock, Deutsche Telekom, Hartmann and Siemens.
