Huawei, Amazon reach patent licensing agreement

Huawei-Amazon deal: China's Huawei Technologies and the US tech giant Amazon have announced a multi-year patent licensing agreement, effectively resolving ongoing litigation between the two companies.

While specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed, Alan Fan, head of Huawei's intellectual property rights department, confirmed that Huawei has withdrawn lawsuits against Amazon in Germany regarding patented technology related to wifi and video playback.

The agreement comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and Chinese telecom companies, with Huawei and ZTE designated as threats due to concerns about data security. 

The US has restricted Chinese telecom companies from its market and mandated the removal of their equipment from US networks. 

Furthermore, US firms have been prohibited from supplying Huawei with chips and other components, notably impacting Huawei's smartphone business.

Despite these challenges, Fan stressed that the patent licensing agreement underscores the cooperation between American, Chinese, and other international companies in standards and patent licensing.

In addition to the deal with Amazon, Huawei also announced a cross-licensing patent agreement with domestic smartphone maker Vivo, covering communication technologies, including 5G. 

Huawei has previously established similar patent agreements with other Chinese smartphone manufacturers, including Xiaomi and Oppo.

(With Reuters Inputs)