Huawei targeted in smartphone patent infringement suit

Telecommunications company Huawei has been named in a patent infringement suit.

Implicit, a US software company, filed its lawsuit (pdf) against Huawei at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Eastern Division, on Monday, December 5.

The suit centres on US patent numbers 8,046,687 and 6,507,349, which were registered at the US Patent and Trademark Office in 2011 and 2013, respectively.

The ‘687 and ‘349 patent are titled “Direct manipulation of displayed content”.

Implicit provides software platforms and products that enable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and independent software vendor (ISVs) to build applications for networks.

Its products include Strings OS, which enables OEMs and ISVs to build, deploy, and manage applications in the network and on the devices that access the network.

According to the suit, Huawei infringed the patents through its products including the Mate 9, Enjoy 6, Honor Holly 3 and Nova smartphones.

The software company argued that Huawei directly infringed its patents and used the patents without authorisation or licence.

Implicit is asking for damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, costs, ongoing royalties for infringement, a permanent injunction against Huawei and a trial by jury.

Huawei was founded in 1987 by Ren Zhengfei.