China opens antitrust investigation into Ericsson
Swedish telecoms company Ericsson has confirmed that it is being investigated in China over complaints against its IP rights licensing practices in the country.
Yesterday, April 16, Ericsson confirmed to WIPR that China's State Administration for Market Regulation had begun an investigation, which the Swedish company said it was fully cooperating with.
“At Ericsson, we license our industry leading patent portfolio on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms and conditions and have always been committed to these FRAND principles,” said a spokesperson for for the company.
The Chinese authorities had reportedly paid a “surprise visit” to Ericsson after Chinese phone makers lodged complaints, according to reports.
Back in 2013, the Indian Competition Commission said it would investigate Ericsson over concerns that the telecom company was charging too much for the use of eight of its patents.
Just two months ago, Ericsson announced a new global patent cross-licensing deal with Chinese smartphone retailer Oppo, covering patents from both companies’ 2G, 3G, and 4G portfolios.
This latest antitrust investigation comes as the market for 5G heats up and telecoms companies prepare to roll out the networks.
Ericsson is a competitor of China’s incumbent telecoms company Huawei, which is facing a US campaign aimed at limiting Huawei’s role in the expansion of the 5G network.
In 2015, US-based semiconductor company Qualcomm agreed to pay a fine of nearly $1 billion to a Chinese government agency, following an anti-competition investigation into the company’s patent licensing programme.
The payment ended the 14-month probe into Qualcomm’s licensing of chips to China’s smartphone industry.
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