Huawei Sues Verizon for Patent Violations

Chinese telecom giant Huawei has filed lawsuits alleging 12 patent violations against American telecom provider Verizon. Huawei claims that it notified Verizon over a year ago about multiple patent infringements, in areas including network security measures, remote sharing from a PC, and parental controls.

Huawei’s Chief Legal Office said in a statement, “Verizon’s products and services have benefited from patented technology that Huawei developed over many years of research and development. Huawei is simply asking that Verizon respect Huawei’s investment in research and development by either paying for the use of our patents, or refraining from using them in its products and services.”

This lawsuit from Huawei follows legal action against the US Federal Communications Commission over unfair discrimination in policy. Verizon has declined to comment on the patent infringement allegations.

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Huawei’s consumer facing overseas business expansion has stalled due to the restrictions resulting from sanctions from the US over national security concerns. Google Mobile Services, a highly popular ecosystem in developed markets like Western Europe and North America, is inaccessible from Huawei devices, damaging their attractiveness to users. Meanwhile, Huawei has instead consolidated its leadership within China, and focused on their 5G infrastructure strategy. The UK recently announced they will allow Huawei to construct some of their 5G networks.