"If kindness is not respected, let it grow thorns!"
Recently, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. filed a lawsuit in a Chinese district court, accusing MediaTek of infringing its patent rights. It is reported that Huawei's patent lawsuit against MediaTek this time is likely to involve 5G (or including 4G, 3G, etc.) and other cellular mobile communication technologies.
On the evening of the 19th, MediaTek officially issued a clarification, saying that this lawsuit has no significant impact on the company, and the case has entered the judicial process, and the company will not comment.
As for the details of the patents involved in the lawsuit, neither Huawei nor MediaTek has given a public reply.
According to media sources, a person close to MediaTek said that Huawei and Huawei began to have disagreements on related patent fees two or three years ago, until the two sides "collapsed" on the price issue some time ago.
"The other party made corresponding requirements to MediaTek according to the price of the terminal, but MediaTek internally believes that the price is too high." The above-mentioned person revealed.
Headquartered in Taiwan, China, MediaTek is the world's fifth-largest fabless semiconductor company, leading the market in mobile terminals, smart home applications, wireless connectivity technology and Internet of Things products. Approximately 2 billion devices powered by MediaTek chips are released worldwide each year.
As the world's largest telecom equipment manufacturer, Huawei owns about 10% of the world's 4G patents, about 20% of the 5G, Wi-Fi 6, and H.266 patents, about 30% of the OTN and 10G PON patents, and about 20% of the IETF patents.
Anyone who cannot get around Huawei's patents must pay patent fees at Huawei's prescribed rates.
In 2023, Huawei announced a number of patent licensing plans and rates. Huawei's licensing rates are capped at US$1.5 and US$2.5 per unit for 4G and 5G phones, respectively, and US$0.5 per Wi-Fi 6 consumer device. For devices with IoT technology as the core, Huawei has set a license rate of 1% of the net selling price, with a maximum of USD 0.75 per device, and USD 0.3-1 per device for devices that are enhanced by IoT.
Huawei's upper limit on patent licensing rates is far lower than the fees charged by foreign companies such as Nokia, Ericsson, and Qualcomm, but MediaTek still feels that the other party's asking price is too high to meet the other party's conditions......
In the face of Nokia, Ericsson, Qualcomm's patent fees, MediaTek did not dare to be angry, obediently paid money, when it was Huawei's turn to collect patent fees from MediaTek, even if it was the "people-friendly price" given by Huawei, MediaTek was unwilling to pay, and Huawei had no choice but to resort to law...... Huawei has really been grinding for three years!
Patent disputes between tech giants occur from time to time, but Huawei's patent infringement lawsuit against MediaTek is particularly different, as Huawei, as a mobile phone manufacturer, is targeting chip manufacturers, not mobile phone terminal manufacturers.
Some experts interpret that Huawei's legal action is not only to protect its own patent rights, but also to explore a new profit model. In the past, Huawei mainly charged patent fees to smart device manufacturers, but this lawsuit suggests that it may be trying to expand the fees to chip manufacturers.
Such a strategic adjustment, if successfully implemented, will help Huawei reap greater economic benefits in the global 5G market, and will also prompt other patent holders to re-examine their patent fee strategy.
Whether the lawsuit between Huawei and MediaTek can successfully explore the profit model will need to be further promoted and made public over time.
This time, Huawei's decisive move has ignited everyone's hope to a certain extent!
Patents are the "hard currency" of technology companies, especially for technology companies, if they want to not be "stuck" by others and be a "hard stubble" that others can't provoke, they must put the patent layout in the strategic position of the enterprise as soon as possible.
Patent protection is essentially to protect the technological innovation achievements of enterprises, prevent them from being plagiarized and preempted by other enterprises, and at the same time, it can also bring greater business advantages and market competitiveness to enterprises, and avoid or reduce various losses that may be brought to enterprises by patents.
*Image source: Network The copyright belongs to the original author