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China Court Orders Samsung Units To Pay $11.6 Million To Huawei Over Patent Case (reuters.com)

Posted by msmash on from the paying-Chinese dept.

A Chinese court has ordered Samsung Electronics's mainland subsidiaries to pay 80 million yuan ($11.60 million) to Huawei Technologies for patent infringement, the China firm's first victory against Samsung on its legal challenges over intellectual property. From a report: Three units of Samsung have been ordered by the Quanzhou Intermediary Court to pay the sum for infringing a patent held by Huawei Device Co Limited, the handset unit of Huawei, the Quanzhou Evening News, a government-run newspaper, said on its website on Thursday. The verdict is the first on several lawsuits of Huawei against the South Korean technology giant. Huawei filed lawsuits against Samsung in May in courts in China and the United States -- the first by it against Samsung -- claiming infringements of smartphone patents. Samsung subsequently countersued Huawei in China for IP infringement.

21 of 42 comments (clear)

  1. Infringing what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The article does not say, no details, no other links, not much to discuss without that and I don't feel like googling, that's your job article submitter and you FAILED.

    1. Re:Infringing what? by sabbede · · Score: 2
      From ZDNet: "The Chinese company has reportedly filed suits in both the United States and China accusing its South Korean competitor of using its 4G cellular technology, operating systems and user interface software. In a statement, Huawei urged Samsung to obtain licensing agreements for those technologies, and to "work together with Huawei to jointly drive the industry forward.""

      I'm skeptical of the idea that Samsung would have any interest in infringing on their 4G patents, and find the OS and UI claims to be absurd. How does Huawei have a patent for Android?

    2. Re:Infringing what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's not necessarily true that their patent suit is the same in the US and in China, but check out their filing in the US.
      https://www.scribd.com/doc/313702463/Huawei-v-Samsung

  2. That sounds like a real bargain! by Ihlosi · · Score: 1

    $11M sounds like small change for a patent infringement case.

    1. Re:That sounds like a real bargain! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      $11M sounds like small change for a patent infringement case.

      That's chinese code word for bribe.
      Taiwan #1 China #4

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

    11M is piss in the ocean, barely a rounding error in business operations.

    What they want is propaganda, a story of so-called "Chinese innovation" taking down the evil THAAD-supporting, filthy constitutional republic next door. A story of Justice with Chinese Characters being done. A story of how the China Dream is Great Again under Dear Leader Uncle Xi.

    And if you think a Chinese patent is worth the same as an American one, I have a bridge in Kambash, Ordos, Inner Mongolia to sell.

    1. Re: That's a bit rich by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Corporation controlling a large part of the south korea GDP vs "communist" state, is there any difference

  4. TOP FUCKING KECK! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    China court enforces patent law!

  5. Lol China by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Have you ever been to China? Everything there is a ripoff of western brands. And copyright infringement is everywhere, and practically encouraged by the government, to give Chinese brands an advantage of superior western ones. And of course many western brands, like google and facebook, are blocked outright, the only reason stuff like baidu even had a chance.

    So, lol China. What a fucking joke.

    Sincerely,
    An angry hong konger

    1. Re:Lol China by jandersen · · Score: 1

      Have you ever been to China?

      I have - probably around 30 times over the last 20 years. Have you?

      Everything there is a ripoff of western brands. And copyright infringement is everywhere, and practically encouraged by the government, to give Chinese brands an advantage of superior western ones. And of course many western brands, like google and facebook, are blocked outright, the only reason stuff like baidu even had a chance.

      That's not what I have seen in my many visits. Sure, you can find fake goods in the markets, just like you can in similar markets in Europe and I wouldn't be surprised if they can be found in the US. Or Hong Kong, since you claim to be from Hong Kong. It is true that when I came there in the beginning, there weren't many Western style luxury goods, but I don't think it is true that things were of poor quality; they were just different - possibly more suited to Chinese needs and expectations at the time. This has changed a lot, and I think it is a shame that so many good, Chinese things disappear in the name of modernisation and are replaced by anonymous, Western style stuff. China was a developing nation when I first came there, and they are still developing, as opposed to many Western nations. And, you know what? A lot of the coolest, new gadgets seem to turn up over there before they come to the US or Europe. That doesn't sound backwards to me.

  6. Return on investment by XB-70 · · Score: 1
    ...And that 11.6 Million award cost Huawei Device Co Limited just how much in "legal" fees?

    Read between the lines, folks.

    --
    *** Don't be dull.***
  7. Oh? by sabbede · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I don't think I'm alone in my skepticism of Chinese courts, IP enforcement, and the validity of their patents. Huawei is an imitator, what patents could they have for Samsung to violate?

    1. Re:Oh? by prunus.avium · · Score: 2

      Imitator? That's putting it lightly. I work in the telecom industry. There was a time when Huawei boards could run Nortel firmware.

    2. Re:Oh? by phorm · · Score: 1

      I've also heard of Huawei switches which basically an IOS clone.
      A lot of early tech companies started out as "imitators" before they got to the point of producing their own products. I've been seen a number of things from Huawei which appear to be of their own design and quite decent quality (like some of their smartwatches).

  8. Nortel IP thiefs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    The entire creation of HUAWEI as a company was done with Nortel IP. Nortel was stupid enough to outsource to China in the first place. China turned around and went "we made this" with everything. They were so bad with it that they didn't even bother taking out the code notations of the Nortel engineers. China was so hungry they had the nortel offices bugged top to bottom. Our DND tried to move into Nortels old campus and had to scrap plans because, and I'm not joking, too many bugs.

  9. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle by Jerrry · · Score: 1

    Is this the same Huawei who copied Cisco firmware wholesale and didn't even bother to change the copyright notices?

  10. Re: Serious question by WindBourne · · Score: 1

    Those who are just.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  11. "China court"? by XanC · · Score: 1

    Is "China" an adjective now? Would you say "America court rules against..."?

  12. China favoring it's own.. by evolutionary · · Score: 2

    The Chinese "courts" are really a political engine generally passing down "divine" rule. I've known a few layers from China who all tell me that the first and foremost thing you do to be successful is to attend networking events where judges are found. All have told me it's a corrupt system. And since this is a Chinese, is it any surprise it favors it's own?

    --
    "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
  13. What were the patents? by WindBourne · · Score: 1

    Seriously, large Chinese companies have a habit of seeing ideas/technology elsewhere and then filing patent claim in China. It is quite possible that these can be taken out, esp the OS and UI ones

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  14. Sino-Korean Politics Fueling This by Koreantoast · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There is a larger Sino-Korean political conflict right now that adds a lot of context to this judgment. The PRC government is angry at South Korea for permitting the deployment of an American THAAD missile defense system on the peninsula. The South Koreans allowed it because of the continuing missile launches by the North, but China views it as another step in American encirclement of China. In retaliation, the PRC has waged an economic attack on South Korea to punish them: banning Chinese tour groups from visiting Korea, suddenly shutting down Korean retailers and other businesses in China on administrative grounds, banning of South Korean imports, and a general harassment of Korean economic interests across the board. This could easily be just another salvo in this spat.

    The irony of this hamfisted approach by the Chinese is that its actually galvanized Korean political sentiment against them. Whereas before, there was a robust debate on whether or not to deploy THAAD, with the anti-THAAD faction ascendant following the fall of the Korean president, the economic retaliation has temporarily shut down that debate. In polls, China has even passed Japan as the most hated country by South Koreans after North Korea due to this kerfuffle. If you know anything about the love-hate relationship between South Korea and Japan, this is a BIG deal.