Chinese telecommunications company Huawei filed a lawsuit against Verizon late last week, claiming patent infringement. In addition to making phones, Huawei has patents for tens of thousands of technology products including the baseline of 3G, 4G and 5G networks. Huawei is focusing on 12 specific patents which they claim Verizon is using without authorization. The lawsuit comes after the two companies spent "a significant amount of time" negotiating an appropriate royalty amount. The legal action suggests that they never found a landing point there.
Less than a day after the lawsuit went public, Verizon responded to the claims, calling it not only a "PR stunt" but a "sneak attack on our company and nation." Earlier in 2019, Huawei asked for $1 billion from Verizon for using up to or more than 230 of their patents. Then, Verizon spokesperson Rich Young said "These issues are larger than just Verizon. Given the broader geopolitical context, any issue involving Huawei has implications for our entire industry and also raise national and international concerns."
Despite being a giant in their field, some Americans likely have never heard of the company. The firm is on a U.S blacklist currently, restricting its use of American technology, as well as making it harder for US citizens to use their phones and other hardware. They have also been accused of making 5G infrastructure equipment which could hypothetically be used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans. Just a month after being blacklisted, they originally asked for the $1 billion mentioned above. They tried to fight the blacklisting last year by suing the US government, but to no avail.
The timing of the lawsuit comes right when Verizon is launching their new 5G network. Huawei has to see the importance of 5G to not just Verizon, but the future of the mobile internet. If they believe they own the technology to make it possible, then they have a right to be upset.
It's sure to be a lengthy process, especially when they're asking for so much in return, but they could force Verizon (and potentially other networks) to find a way to use 5G in a different way, such as through Huawei. In a likely nightmare scenario for both sides, it could even delay the roll out of 5G technology.
As for Huawei, they have so many active technology patents (11,000 in the U.S currently) that there is a real chance that Verizon did infringe on at least one of them. It'll be interesting to see how they move forward with both this lawsuit and their hopes to be taken off the U.S's blacklist.
Source: CNBC
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