Huawei files suit against US firm in China: report

Chinese technology giant Huawei has sued U.S. technology firm InterDigital Inc., alleging the company hasn’t fairly licensed its intellectual property in China, Reuters reported Monday.

InterDigital wrote in a filing that Huawei had filed a lawsuit on Jan. 2 accusing the U.S. firm of not licensing patents on fair and nondiscriminatory terms, according to the news agency.

{mosads}The lawsuit, filed in the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court, specifically concerns patents related to wireless telecommunication requirements.

InterDigital and Huawei previously had a patent licensing agreement but it expired at the end of 2018, according to Reuters. InterDigital, which is based in Delaware, said Huawei has asked the court to determine the royalty rate on its products for the next four years.

The lawsuit comes as Huawei has been at the center of disputes between the U.S. and China.

Reuters reported last month that President Trump is considering signing an executive order that would prevent U.S. companies from using telecommunications equipment made by Huawei and ZTE. 

The Trump administration has accused the tech firms of working for the Chinese government and having the ability to spy on U.S. citizens.

Separately, an executive for Huawei was arrested last month in Canada at the request of U.S. authorities. The executive, Meng Wanzhou, was later released on bail but remains in Canada amid possible extradition to the U.S.

Meng’s arrest came on the same day that the U.S. and China brokered a temporary ceasefire in their trade dispute, which has seen the two countries place hundreds of billions of dollars worth of tariffs on each other’s goods.