Huawei alleges that Bellevue-based T-Mobile would not make a deal to license several 4G patents from the Chinese telecom company, and is still using those technologies, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in Eastern Texas, alleges that Huawei offered to give T-Mobile license for several 4G patents under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms (FRAND). T-Mobile allegedly didn’t take the offer and continues to use the patented technologies.
According to the lawsuit, the conflict goes back to 2014, when Huawei wanted to begin a licensing discussion, but T-Mobile allegedly would not sign a non-disclosure agreement and negotiations stalled. Earlier this year, Huawei filed several patent infringement complaints, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal, which first reported on today’s suit.
Huawei is not looking for monetary damages, but instead wants a declaratory judgment that would help facilitate a licensing agreement. We’ve contacted T-Mobile for comment on the suit.
This isn’t T-Mobile’s first dispute with Huawei. In 2014, T-Mobile filed a lawsuit accusing Huawei of stealing the designs and parts of the company’s top secret cell phone testing robot, nicknamed “Tappy,” in order to build a copy for the Chinese company. The robot is designed to simulate the touch of a human finger, so that T-Mobile can test devices to develop maintenance plans and find ways to lower device return costs. That case remains active, court documents show.
Huawei vs. T-Mobile by Todd Bishop on Scribd
