The world’s largest smartphone maker is suing the world’s third-largest smartphone maker, with Samsung claiming Huawei has infringed on six separate patents in China.
The latest patent dispute between leading smartphone manufacturers saw Samsung sue Huawei on six grounds, which the former says all relate to patents infringed by the latter.
The lawsuit – which could send $24.1m in the direction of Samsung – alleges that Huawei’s popular Mate8 smartphone and its Honor range infringe on several patents.
A report this week found Huawei leads the way in the profitable China market, representing almost one-quarter of sales in the Asian country.
Such are the Chinese figures that Huawei is comfortably third in a global ranking of smartphone sales, with OPPO – another manufacturer prioritising China – its closest challenger.
With Samsung and Apple – numbers one and two in the world – not able to crack into the top-five manufacturers in China, patent issues in the country can prove very important.
Huawei claims it has yet to receive official word of the complaint, yet it’s willing to defend itself if necessary.
“We will review any documentation and defend ourselves as appropriate when we do. In the absence of a negotiated settlement, litigation is often an efficient way to resolve [intellectual property rights] disputes,” said Huawei.
Much like the lawsuits between Samsung and Apple trundling through the courts around the world, this latest case could be considered as retaliation.
Huawei sued Samsung in the US and China back in May, itself seeking compensation for what it called infringement of its own intellectual property.
“We have faithfully negotiated with other patent holders for the fair licensing of technology,” Samsung said.
“However, despite our best efforts to resolve this matter amicably, it has regrettably become necessary to take legal action in order to defend our intellectual property.”
Huawei image via J. Lekavicius/Shutterstock
