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China's Huawei Sues Samsung Claiming Mobile Patent Infringement (reuters.com)

Posted by msmash on from the role-reversal dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Huawei said on Wednesday it has filed lawsuits against Samsung claiming infringement of smartphone patents, in the first such case by the Chinese firm against the world's biggest mobile maker. Huawei has filed lawsuits in the United States and China seeking compensation for what it said was unlicensed use of fourth-generation (4G) cellular communications technology, operating systems and user interface software in Samsung phones. The lawsuit marks a reversal of roles in China where firms have often been on the receiving end of patent infringement disputes. In smartphones, makers have grown rapidly in recent years but different intellectual property laws outside of China have slowed overseas expansion. "We hope Samsung will ... stop infringing our patents and get the necessary license from Huawei, and work together with Huawei to jointly drive the industry forward," Ding Jianxing, president of Huawei's Intellectual Property Rights Department, said.

23 of 49 comments (clear)

  1. Growth Slows by Luthair · · Score: 2

    So sue.

  2. That's rich by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They built their entire business on patent infringement. They still have nortel code in some of their comms gear, with comments from the developers in english.

    1. Re:That's rich by jandersen · · Score: 2

      Yes, yes, the Chinese are thieving bastards who can't develop anything original - and on the same note, the Jews are greedy usurers without conscience, and the Americans are gun-slinging hicks with size 20 mouth in a size 10 head. Seriously, reality has never agreed with this sort of simplistic jingoism, so let's move on a bit, OK? I mean, I have been hearing this same nonsense about Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, India, ... - and it has never been as simple as that. Once it was true about America too, and even you guys moved on and became world leaders for a while. It seems that emerging nations learn, in the beginning, from the more developed nations and then they move up to join the club of more mature contributors. China are already ahead of the West in some areas - which is why there is a tendency to see the newest gadgets in East Asia before they come to America and Europe. We can still teach them things, but we can certainly learn one or two things from them as well.

    2. Re:That's rich by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      I can only find so far one document that is functioning WRT the LTE patents, but they list Samsung as having patents, but no patents for Huawei.
      http://www.i-runway.com/images...

      Perhaps when this site stops falling over itself, you can point to the Huawei patent on LTE that seems like others don't even know exists:
      https://ipr.etsi.org/

      So, what I see here is that Huawei will get a big smackdown when they can't sell their own devices anymore due to Samsung pulling permission to use their 4G LTE patents.

      It isn't jingoism when it is fact proven over and over. Huawei have been caught using stolen code in their devices, so how is that not fact now and instead bigotry?

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  3. The TFA is scant on details by H3lldr0p · · Score: 2

    It says the lawsuits were filed in the US and China, but it doesn't list the patents nor where in the US the suit was filed. Was it east Texas or somewhere else?

    Aside from that, what's the point to these suits. It feels like they're coming out of the blue. Nothing on any of the sites I read was saying anything about these two. Was there some negotiations that went sour that Huawei wants to revive? Did Samsung piss up some high level party in China to start this? Because this seems more political than business related.

  4. That's rich by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is coming from a company and a country that haven't respected intellectual property rights of others. Chinese factories are notorious for knocking off goods they're contracted to produce. Chinese companies have a history of not respecting intellectual property. Huawei holds over 50,000 patents and this particular one seems to relate to the LTE standard, though the article is vague. I don't think patents should be enforceable in industry standards. There's also a good chance that many of those 50,000+ patents are trivial.

  5. Oh, the irony is killing me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Huawei (or any other Chinese manufacturer) suing anyone for patent infringement is just priceless...

  6. Probably rounded corners on 4g phones by Lendrick · · Score: 5, Funny

    If Samsung would just put spikes on the corners of their phones like I suggested a long time ago, none of this would happen.

    1. Re:Probably rounded corners on 4g phones by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      That is hilarious*!

      * ... to everybody who understands what a design patent is. Sorry, it's not really flattering for you.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    2. Re:Probably rounded corners on 4g phones by Tourney3p0 · · Score: 1

      Actually it was me that asked. I just don't usually log in at work. Your paranoia is a little weird. You should try some of that "getting educated on the subject" you seem so keen on.

    3. Re:Probably rounded corners on 4g phones by Tourney3p0 · · Score: 1, Troll

      Did you hear about the guy who got hit in the head with a can of soda? He was lucky it was a soft drink.

      Well actually, while the aluminum composite can is soft, it becomes rigid and takes on a hard texture when pressurized by a liquid inside. In fact, I would dare say he wasn't lucky at all if he got hit by a soft drink. Don't question me on this. Try educating yourself on the subject.

  7. Why not? by hackingbear · · Score: 2

    Because this seems more political than business related.

    These patent infringement lawsuits, real inventions or fluffs, have been filed by huge amount by US companies or trolls, against many companies including Samsung. And Samsung have filed similar lawsuits against others. So why is a Chinese company copying the same practice only for "political" and not for money? Don't you know all companies and people want money, just like it is in the US? Have you been travel to China to take a look? China is not North Korea.

    1. Re:Why not? by hackingbear · · Score: 1

      So was the US in the 19th and early 20th centuries too. I guess all those American companies filing patent infringement lawsuits are jokes too, until they won and collected their money rightful or not.

  8. Never throw stones in glass houses by JoeyRox · · Score: 1

    Anyone involved in patents for large tech companies know that they're mostly acquired for defensive rather than offensive reasons. The purpose of holding a large patent portfolio is so that when someone knocks on your door and says you're infringing on their patent(s) you can take out your own patent book and show them how many patents they're infringing on - the result is usually a cross-licensing deal with no money exchanging hands. I'm guessing Huawei doesn't have one of those large patent books, so they're about to find out what happens when you bring a knife to a gunfight.

  9. Standard Samsung MO by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Samsung is (or should be) well known for purposely infringing patents with the knowledge that they have the money to fight in court until the situation is no longer relevant. They don't just do it against American companies and in the mobile business, they've been doing it for years in Korea as well.

    Samsung is hugely corrupt and rarely follows the rules. They get sued and counter-sue, tie up cases in courts for years, and then when the other company is tired of fighting, they either walk away scot free, or pay a pittance in relation to the profit they made by infringing. Huawei has no way to win this fight, but they're obligated to try for a while, at least.

    I would try to stay away from Samsung products on principle, but I can't even buy Apple products without putting money into Samsung's pocket.

    Vanity Fair ran a good article a few years ago that goes over it a bit.
    http://www.vanityfair.com/news...

    1. Re:Standard Samsung MO by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Yeah screw Samsung for copying the rounded corners of the iPhone.

      Huawei is a far more reputable company who would never copy someone else in an effort to make their product more desirable

    2. Re:Standard Samsung MO by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 1

      I don't exactly hold Huawei in high regard either, particularly on the copying front, but Samsung is shameless and prolific in a way that Huawei hasn't had sufficient opportunity to be. Maybe they both deserve this lawsuit, but Samsung will copy anything from anywhere, any time.

    3. Re:Standard Samsung MO by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Sure thing. You're entitled to your beliefs. Personally I still think the iPhone looks much more like a Samsung picture frame that was released 3 years before the iPhone, and certainly since the Galaxy S3 their phones have looked unique and better in far more ways that many of their competitors. Yeah their designs are still similar but I give that a pass considering their are actually one of the few companies still innovating and actually doing some R&D.

    4. Re:Standard Samsung MO by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 1

      I think the article and Samsung's legal record speaks for itself, frankly.

    5. Re:Standard Samsung MO by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      Um, you do realize that Samsung holds nearly 10% of the LTE patents don't you?

      http://www.i-runway.com/images...

      So, who is copying who here?

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  10. The problem is how they got caught. by mmell · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I'll bet somebody was trying to back-engineer Samsung's hardware when they realized "hey, I don't even need to reverse engineer this part 'cuz I wrote that last year.

    "Wait a minute . . . "

  11. Geopolitics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This has nothing to do with IP and everything to do with realpolitik. This is not Huawei suing Samsung. This is China bullying South Korea.

  12. One more thing by Lirodon · · Score: 1

    You forgot to mention that said lawsuit also contains redacted statements regarding a second violation.