Huawei and Samsung reach settlement in two-year patent dispute

Huawei Technologies and Samsung Electronics have concluded their two-year patent battle, settling the dispute out of court.

The world’s two largest smartphone manufacturers had been in court with each other in both the United States and China since 2016, after Huawei claimed Samsung had used its cellular technology without permission.

It also alleged that Samsung had delayed entering into a licensing agreement for the technology.

Samsung denied the accusations, and countersued the Chinese technology giant in the US after it said Huawei was seeking heavily inflated licensing fees.

Overnight in the US, the two firms filed a joint motion to an appeals court to halt proceedings over the intellectual property disputes, confirming they had entered into a settlement deal on 25 February.

The filing did not go into detail as to why Huawei and Samsung intended to settle, but it did reveal that the companies were looking for a 30-day stay in proceedings while they finalise a settlement.

At that point, it is understood Huawei would drop its request for an appeal, in the case which was initially set to go to trial in November.

Last January, a court in Shenzhen ruled in favour of Huawei, ordering Samsung and its Chinese affiliates from making and selling 4G-connected smartphones in the People’s Republic.

In April, a judge in the US ordered Huawei not to enforce the ruling from the Shenzhen court.