According to the Digitimes report, Huawei and MediaTek’s legal disputes over registered patents will intensify after the end of the Chinese national holiday and the release of new products by these companies from October 25 (November 4).
Huawei and MediaTek have been in a legal battle since July over alleged patent infringement related to cellular network technologies, including 4G, 5G and LTE.
Huawei has sued in a Chinese court and MediaTek in the UK High Court against each other. The details of the petitions and the exact court date are not officially known, but Digitimes claims it will be October 25.
The main root of the dispute apparently stems from a breakdown in the licensing agreement. Huawei has a huge portfolio of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) essential to wireless communication technologies, including about 20% of the world’s total 5G-related patents.
Huawei collects patent fees from manufacturers who design, manufacture and market complete electronic devices such as smartphones. Companies such as Oppo, Xiaomi and Samsung are among the manufacturers of final devices.
Huawei seems to be pursuing a strategy of component-level licensing. The reason for this change of strategy is not clear; But considering that Huawei and MediaTek are the 5G chip manufacturers, there are probably strategic business reasons behind this legal battle.
MediaTek says the license fees based on the price of the end devices are too high, and this is the reason for the dispute between Huawei and MediaTek.
If Huawei wins the lawsuit, the current business model in the mobile industry will change. Instead of smartphone manufacturers such as Apple, Samsung or Xiaomi having to pay exorbitant royalties, this time it is the turn of chip suppliers such as MediaTek and Qualcomm to shoulder most of the costs; A change that can theoretically lead to a decrease in the price of the phone.
