HEVC patent holder InterDigital makes peace with Huawei

Patent licensing body InterDigital has made peace with Chinese tech giant Huawei, with which it was battling in the courts over intellectual property violations and rate-setting, in a negotiated settlement that will see Huawei use InterDigital’s HEVC video compression patents, as well as patents covering mobile and WiFi technology.

InterDigital, said that, with its patent holding subsidiaries, it had signed a multi-year, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty bearing patent license agreement with Huawei coverings certain of Huawei’s products and certain of InterDigital’s essential patents.

InterDigital and Huawei have also agreed to dismiss all pending litigation between the companies.

The pair have settled legal proceedings that were ongoing as part of the deal, including a Rate-setting case initiated by Huawei, filed in January 2018 in the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court and a UK case initiated by InterDigital in December 2019, in the High Court of Justice, Business and Property Courts of England and Wales, Intellectual Property List (Chancery Division), Patents Court.

The non-exclusive agreement covers the period through to 2023.

This agreement follows InterDigital’s recent launch of a transparency initiative that saw the company make its standards essential patent (SEP) licensing rate information made publicly available.

InterDigital is a significant licensor of HEVC technology alongside patent pool HEVC Advance.

“This agreement, reached amid challenging circumstances given the current economic downturn, highlights the strength of our business and the value of InterDigital’s contributions to multiple generations of wireless and video standards,” said William J. Merritt, President and CEO of InterDigital.

“The agreement also underscores the fairness and flexibility of our licensing approach, including our rate and portfolio transparency, which set an industry standard.”