Huawei talking patent deal with Microsoft
updated 06:00 am EST, Tue November 8, 2011
Huawei latest in sights of Microsoft
Up and coming Chinese mobile phone maker Huawei has found itself in the sights of Microsoft. Huawei’s chief marketing officer Victor Xu has told a group of UK journalists that discussions with Microsoft are “in progress” over licensing fees related to purported patent infringements over the company’s use of Android in its products. If it enters into a licensing arrangement, as seems likely, it will join Samsung and HTC as high profile companies paying royalties to the Redmond-based software giant.
Xu, however, claimed that Huawei is in a good position in its talks with Microsoft.
"We always respect the intellectual property of key companies," Xu said.
"At the moment we have more than 65,000 patents and we have enough instruments to protect our interests."
In 2012, Microsoft is forecast to receive at least $444 million in Android-derived royalty payments. Unlike Apple, Microsoft has been prepared to license its intellectual property. Instead Apple has sought to take companies including Samsung and HTC to court In order to block the sale of devices where they have been found to infringe on Apple’s IP.
