China’s Huawei Technologies and the U.S. tech giant Amazon have reached a multi-year patent licensing agreement that resolves ongoing litigation between the two companies.
While specific terms of the deal were not disclosed, Alan Fan, the head of Huawei’s intellectual property rights department, revealed that Huawei has dropped lawsuits against Amazon in Germany related to patented technology concerning wifi and video playback.
The agreement comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and Chinese telecom companies, with the U.S. barring Chinese firms from its market due to data security concerns.
Huawei and ZTE have been designated as threats, leading to the removal of their equipment from U.S. networks. Additionally, the U.S. has imposed restrictions on American companies supplying chips and other components to Huawei, impacting its smartphone business.
Despite these challenges, the patent licensing deal signifies cooperation between American and Chinese companies, as well as companies from other regions, in standards and patent licensing, according to Alan Fan.
In a separate announcement, Huawei disclosed a cross-licensing patent agreement with domestic smartphone manufacturer Vivo, covering communication technologies, including 5G. Huawei has previously entered into similar patent agreements with Chinese smartphone makers Xiaomi and Oppo.
