By MKPE ABANG
These may not be the best of times for South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, as China’s Huawei Technologies has filed lawsuits in China and the United States of America against the company for alleged patents infringements on mobile devices and cellular communication technology.
Huawei filed the lawsuits, Tuesday May 24, for patent infringement against Samsung in the United States and China, including District Court for the Northern District of California and Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court.
In these lawsuits, Huawei is seeking compensation for alleged Samsung’s infringement of Huawei’s intellectual property, including valuable patents relating to cellular communications technology and software used by Samsung’s mobile phones.
At issue in the suits are 11 patents, including Huawei’s technologies for improving the downlink receiving rate of mobile devices; improving the synchronisation process for mobile devices on an LTE network through the use of random access preambles; providing a way for a mobile device to efficiently negotiate non-access stratum (NAS) security with an LTE network when it moves in idle state from a 2G or 3G network to the LTE network; and providing acknowledgement information in an LTE-Advanced system using carrier aggregation in a way that is backwards compatible with an LTE system.
The lawsuit also claims Samsung violated three different patents pertaining to cell reselection when a mobile device moves from one area to another.
Huawei has accused Samsung of using the patented technology in nearly all of its major mobile devices, including the recently released Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, the Note 5, and Tab S2. Samsung’s Galaxy SII, SIII, S4, S5, S5 mini, S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+, Core Prime, Grand Prime, Note, Note II, Note 3, Note 4, Note Edge, Tab 2, Tab 3, Tab 4, Tab 7, Tab 8, Tab A, Tab E, and Tab S are all also named in the lawsuit.
Huawei said it has previously notified Samsung of the violations, but claimed the company has continued “wilful” infringement of its patents.
According to Huawei’s complaint, Samsung and its entities have “earned billions of dollars by selling UMTS and LTE-compliant products that use Huawei’s technology.”
Ding Jianxing, president of Huawei’s Intellectual Property Rights Department, said the company is committed to sharing its patents on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory licensing terms, but believes it is entitled to receive compensation for the unlicensed use of its technology.
“While respecting others’ patents, we will also protect our own,” Ding said. “We hope Samsung will respect Huawei’s R&D investment and patents, stop infringing our patents and get the necessary license from Huawei, and work together with Huawei to jointly drive the industry forward.”
Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Huawei said it is seeking a trial by jury and is hoping to receive both “adequate” damages and on-going royalties from infringing devices.
According to Ding, “Huawei believes that industry players should work together to push the industry forward through open, joint innovation.”
As a leading ICT solutions and smart device provider and patent owner, Huawei says it invests heavily in research and development. In 2015 alone, Huawei invested CNY59.6 billion (US$9.2 billion), or 15% of its annual revenue, in the research and development of new technologies, new products, and wireless communications standards. Huawei’s substantial investment in R&D over the years has resulted in a large number of high-value patents. According to the statistics published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in 2015 Huawei topped the list of international patent filers for the second consecutive year with 3,898 published PCT applications, or an additional 456 applications over the previous year. As of December 31, 2015, Huawei has been granted 50,377 patents around the world. These patents relate to LTE, operating systems, and user interface, which are highly valuable to smartphones.
Of course, Samsung is no stranger to intellectual property lawsuits. Apple famously filed suit against the Korean giant in 2011 in a case that dragged on for years. Samsung countersued, and both companies had wins and losses over a rather lengthy litigation process.
Huawei and Samsung run Google’s Android operating system on their smartphones. Huawei, and several other Chinese companies, have overtaken Samsung’s previously dominant presence in its home country, and the company has been aggressively making an expansion into the U.S. The company is seeking compensation for the alleged damages.