Huawei sues US firm InterDigital in China over patent practices

BEIJING: InterDigital Inc on Monday said Huawei Technologies Co Ltd filed a lawsuit against it in China, alleging the U.S. technology firm had not licensed its intellectual property on fair terms.

The lawsuit, filed on Jan 2. in the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court, alleged InterDigital violated an obligation to license patents that are essential to 3G, 4G and 5G wireless telecommunication standards on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, InterDigital said in a regulatory filing.

Huawei asked the court to determine a royalty rate that would apply to its wireless products from 2019 to 2023, Wilmington, Delaware-based InterDigital said.

A Huawei spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

InterDigital is a research and development company that generates revenue by licensing a global portfolio of patents on its innovations in wireless technology.

InterDigital said it had a patent licensing agreement with Huawei that expired at the end of 2018.