Huawei sues US telecoms provider Verizon for alleged patent violations

Chinese tech giant Huawei has filed a lawsuit against US carrier Verizon, seeking compensation for what it said were infringements of its intellectual property rights.

The company said that Verizon is using technology that is protected by 12 of its US patents. According to the court documents, Verizon “profited greatly” from the technology, with the US firm’s Wireline segment generating revenue of $29.8 billion in 2018.

Huawei said it has approached Verizon multiple times to negotiate licensing fees since February 2019, but the two companies were unable to agree on license terms.

“Verizon’s products and services have benefited from patented technology that Huawei developed over many years of research and development,” said Huawei’s chief legal officer Song Liuping.

“For years now we have successfully negotiated patent license agreements with many companies. Unfortunately, when no agreement can be reached, we have no choice but to seek a legal remedy,” Song said.

Huawei is one of the world’s most prolific patent holders, with more than 80,000 worldwide and 10,000 in the US alone. It says that has received more than $1.4 billion in patent license fees since 2015 and paid over $6 billion for the use of patented technology in that time.

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