Qualcomm Signs Patent Licensing Deal With Huawei

Qualcomm Incorporated reached a deal with Chinese telecom business Huawei to settle a patent dispute, the company announced Thursday, July 30.

The global licensing agreement grants Huawei back rights to some of the San Diego-based tech company’s patents effective January 1, 2020, according to Qualcomm.

Qualcomm expects about US$1.8 billion from Huawei as part of the back-dated agreement.

“As 5G continues to roll out, we are realizing the benefits of the investments we have made in building the most extensive licensing program in mobile and are turning the technical challenges of 5G into leadership opportunities and commercial wins,” Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf said in a statement.

The agreement was unexpected given the backdrop of an increasingly acrimonious political battle between Washington and Beijing over technologies broadly and Huawei in particular. The Trump administration has accused China of stealing trade secrets and using technology, including Huawei’s, as a vehicle to potentially conduct espionage. China and Huawei have denied those charges.

As part of that tussle, the administration and China have imposed tariffs on each other, including on electronics. In 2018, President Trump blocked the US$117 billion takeover bid of Qualcomm by rival chip maker Broadcom, which was previously based in Singapore. The administration saw the deal as a threat to US leadership over China in technological arenas such as the emerging field of superfast 5G communications.

Full Content: Wall Street Journal

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.