Huawei files competition complaint against InterDigital over 3G patent fees

Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei has filed a competition complaint against US firm InterDigital with European Union regulators.

Huawei accuses InterDigital of “abusing” its position and demanding “exploitative” fees to use its patented technology, said to be essential to 3G in mobile devices.

It added that such moves were against the EU rules which require holders to licence their patents fairly.

InterDigital said it was “committed” to those rules.

Huawei said in a statement: “InterDigital is seeking to leverage its declared 3G standard essential patents to force Huawei to conclude a discriminatory, unfair and exploitative license.

“InterDigital’s demand manifestly breaches the policies of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute calling for fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory licensing practices by technology patent holders.”

InterDigital, which is based in Philadelphia, owns more than 19,500 mobile communications patents and patent applications.

Huawei said that InterDigital had been trying to take advantage of the dominant position it enjoys in the sector and despite negotiations the two firms had not been able to reach an agreement.

However, InterDigital said that it had been following the rules set by regulators while dealing with various companies across the globe.

“Our long and successful track record of licensing more than 50 companies throughout the mobile industry is proof of that commitment, and of our ability to reach mutually agreeable terms for such licenses,” Lawrence Shay, President of InterDigital’s patent holding subsidiaries said in a statement.

This is not the first time that the two firms have been involved in a patent-related dispute.

Last year, InterDigital lodged a complaint against Huawei, along with another Chinese phone maker ZTE and Finland’s Nokia, accusing them of infringing seven of its patents.