Huawei sues Verizon for allegedly using patents without permission

Huawei has yet another legal skirmish on its hands.

The Chinese telecom giant announced in a press release on Thursday that it had filed a lawsuit against Verizon. The suit, filed in U.S. District Courts for Eastern and Western Districts of Texas, accused Verizon of repeatedly using 12 Huawei patents without permission or, more importantly, paying licensing fees.

“Verizon’s products and services have benefited from patented technology that Huawei developed over many years of research and development,” Huawei chief legal officer Dr. Song Liuping said in the statement.

Huawei pointed out that it spends a lot of money on research and development, and as such, deserves a cut when its ideas get used elsewhere. According to the Chinese firm, it only seeks a “legal remedy” when agreements can’t be reached. 

That sounds fair enough with no other context, but Verizon doesn’t see it that way. In a statement to Mashable, Verizon vigorously criticized Huawei’s handling of the issue.

“Huawei’s lawsuit filed overnight, in the very early morning, is nothing more than a PR stunt. This lawsuit is a sneak attack on our company and the entire tech ecosystem. Huawei’s real target is not Verizon; it is any country or company that defies it. The action lacks merit, and we look forward to vigorously defending ourselves.”  

This isn’t the first time these two companies have gone toe-to-toe on this exact issue. Huawei demanded licensing fees from Verizon less than a year ago, but didn’t quite take it to the courts. After Apple and Qualcomm settled their years-long patent infringement case last year, it was probably about time for the tech world to produce another one.

Huawei, of course, has been involved in plenty of legal hang-ups in the western world recently. In December, Huawei sued the U.S. government over new FCC regulations on its equipment. In just the past week or so, both the U.S. and E.U. reportedly took steps to box Huawei out of 5G deployment in their respective territories. 

Wherever this Verizon lawsuit goes, it’s safe to say Huawei’s already-tenuous footing in the U.S. might not improve in the immediate future.