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In a surprising turn of events, the Chinese Huawei has signed a multi-year patent licensing deal with the American giant retailer Amazon. Huawei officially confirmed the news on its website.
Huawei and a dozen Chinese tech companies have been under US sanctions due to their alleged ties with the CCP. The US government has continuously barred nationwide companies from collaborating with Chinese firms and even banned Nvidia from exporting modified chips to China. Meanwhile, Amazon’s patent licensing deal with Huawei comes a blow to those restrictions.
Huawei has previously sued Amazon in Germany over WiFi patent infringement. But Alan Fan, Head of Huawei’s Intellectual Property Rights Department, confirmed that the recent partnership resolved the pending lawsuit.
Amazon & Huawei sign patent licensing deal
“Patent licensing expands the number of companies that can use what otherwise would be proprietary technologies, which, in turn, provides consumers with more innovative products and services.” Fan added.
Huawei’s official also stated the patent deal with Amazon shows American and Chinese companies are collaborating “without limitations in standards and patent licensing.”
Scott Hayden, Vice President of IP for Amazon, also noted the retailer “respects Huawei’s efforts to license its patents to companies like Amazon, which frequently use industry technical standards when inventing new products and services for customers.”
Huawei is yet to disclose the details of its agreement with Amazon. The US government is also expected to react to the deal and request an explanation from Amazon. The giant retailer might have to back off the deal if the corporation violates US trade restrictions against Chinese companies.
Huawei’s patent portfolio is wildly growing
Simultaneously, Huawei announced a cross-licensing patent deal with Vivo, another Chinese OEM. The agreement provides Vivo with communication technologies to deploy 5G connectivity. Huawei has similar patent deals with Xiaomi and Oppo.
When it comes to 5G patents, Huawei holds the rights to some of the most advanced technologies. The firm’s patent portfolio became even richer in 2021 after acquiring over 90 patents from Blackberry.