Samsung to take Huawei to US court
By Kim Yoo-chul
Samsung Electronics plans to take Huawei Technologies (Huawei) to a U.S. court in July, at the earliest, sources who are familiar with the case said, Friday.
“Samsung Electronics is in the process of collecting cases to probe Huawei’s alleged involvement to infringe on Samsung’s wireless patents. Rather than seeking a licensing agreement, it’s highly likely that Samsung Electronics will file its counterclaim in a court in the United States in July,” one source who is knowledgeable with the matter said.
Huawei sued Samsung in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California alleging that Samsung was using some of its wireless patents without licensing.
Huawei claimed Samsung’s flagship smartphones including the Galaxy S7 infringed upon 11 of its standard-essential patents (SEPs).
The Chinese technology company was hoping to enter a comprehensive cross-licensing period with Samsung on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms with the Chinese seeking monetary compensation.
Huawei signed licensing deals with global technology leaders including Qualcomm, Ericsson and Apple.
On Wednesday, Samsung Electronics Executive Vice President Ahn Seung-ho, who is also the head of the firm’s intellectual property division, said it will file a countersuit against Huawei.
“Filing a lawsuit against a leading technology company has been effective to promote brand awareness. As wireless patents are being used extensively, it’s tough to calculate monetary losses from such lawsuits, meaning the patent dispute will run longer,” said another source.
But they said it’s unlikely that the Samsung-Huawei patent dispute will be developed as “blockbuster one” like the Apple-Samsung dispute given Huawei’s small global share in the telecommunications equipment and smartphone industries.
Huawei sells its telecom gear and samrtphones, globally. But most of its products are sold in China.
“It’s unlikely that the Samsung-Huawei legal tussle will be expanded to areas other than China and the United States because there’s no reason for Samsung Electronics to help Huawei increase its awareness around the world by expanding the lawsuit, globally,” said the sources.
In 2011, Samsung Electronics countersued Apple in the courts of more than 20 countries from Korea, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, United Kingdom, France to the United States after the iPhone designer filed a lawsuit in a US court claiming Samsung willfully copied the looks and feels of iPhones.
Huawei is the world’s No. 3 samrtphone manufacturer with an 8.5 percent global share last year. Samsung Electronics was the top seller with 23.6 percent, followed by Apple with 15.3 percent, according to data from Strategy Analytics, a market research firm.
Samsung Electronics declined to comment about its plans for the Huawei dispute.
But the sources said Samsung may file its lawsuit in the US court claiming Huawei infringed on some of Samsung’s SEPs.
“As Samsung did in its fight against Apple, Huawei regards its patent dispute with Samsung as part of its destiny in becoming one of the global leaders in smartphones. Samsung should deal with the issue very seriously as Samsung can’t afford to lose its valued brand image, which is a result of steady but hefty investment,” said a local patent expert.