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6 July 2016Patents

Huawei lines up T-Mobile in FRAND licensing complaint

Chinese telecoms company Huawei has sued T-Mobile in a complaint centring on 4G standard-essential patents and an alleged failure to abide by fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing terms.

According to Huawei, it filed the complaint because phone company T-Mobile had refused its FRAND offer and “continues to practise, use, or otherwise comply” with 4G standard patents owned by Huawei.

Huawei filed the complaint, a request for declaratory judgment, to establish that it has complied with FRAND terms when seeking to license the technology to T-Mobile.

It was filed yesterday, July 5, at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

According to Huawei, the case centres on its obligation to comply with FRAND terms as set out by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).

Huawei said it owns numerous patents that are essential to comply with 3GPP/ETSI standards, including “23.060; 23.203; 23.380; 23.401; 23.402; 23.237; 29.274; and 33.401”, and that T-Mobile has been using the technology through its network infrastructure.

The dispute started in June 2014 when Huawei contacted T-Mobile to discuss its licensing programme, prompting a back and forth where no deal was agreed.

In 2016, T-Mobile said that it would enter into a non-disclosure agreement but could not agree a mutually acceptable offer.

In its complaint, Huawei claimed that T-Mobile rejected its FRAND licensing offer and itself alleged that Huawei violated its commitment to license its patents on FRAND terms.

Huawei is seeking a trial by jury and a decision declaring that the Chinese company has complied with its FRAND commitment in its negotiations with T-Mobile.

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