Huawei has filed a lawsuit against Verizon in Texas, saying it wants compensation for the use of technology protected by 12 Huawei patents in the US. The company had originally wanted licensing fees for over 230 patents, but discussions with Verizon seem to have whittled the number down to 12, for the moment. Huawei noted that despite long discussions on the matter, the two companies were unable to reach an agreement on license terms. Huawei did not say how much it was seeking in compensation.
Huawei holds over 80,000 patents worldwide, including more than 10,000 in the US alone. The company has more than 100 license agreements with major ICT vendors in the US, Europe, Japan and South Korea. It has since 2015 received more than USD 1.4 billion in patent license fees. It has in that time also paid out over USD 6 billion in fees to industry peers. Of the total, 80 percent of the fees went to companies in the US.
Huawei also noted it puts about 10-15 percent of its revenues into R&D every year. In 2018, expenditure into R&D reached USD 15 billion, close to 15 percent of total annual revenues. In general, the company has spent over USD 70 billion on research over the past decade.
Verizon gave a withering response to the suit, saying Huawei's move was "nothing more than a PR stunt" and that it was a "sneak attack on our company and the entire tech ecosystem." Verizon said the action lacks merit and that it looks forward to vigorously defending itself.
