Chinese Telco Giant ‘Huawei’ Sues American Mobile Uncarrier ‘T-Mobile’

When it comes to filing lawsuits against parties that have committed copyright violations or patent infringements, American companies are usually the most zealous at doing the filing. This is why “Huawei’s” decision to sue “T-Mobile” over a patent complaint is so jarring to so many because it serves as a stark reminder that companies from other countries can use legal action against U.S. brands as well. In this case, the Chinese telco giant is suing the American mobile Uncarrier over a 4G patent violation.

The whole debacle supposedly started back in 2014 when “T-Mobile” decided to sue “Huawei” over phone testing technology, according to Engadget. At the time, the Chinese company couldn’t do anything until the American mobile carrier decided not to sign an agreement pertaining to the 14 4G technology patents that “Huawei” held the rights to and “T-Mobile” was using.

BizJournals has a detailed report on the issue, including “T-Mobile’s” refusal to license the patents that it is using. Oddly enough, “Huawei” is not asking for monetary compensation from the US District Court, but it is hoping that the lawsuit will force the budget-friendly mobile company to sign the licensing agreement that fell through.

One thing to note is that the lawsuit was filed in Eastern Texas, which is a known hotspot for patent trolls to sue parties that are supposedly infringing on their patent right by using technology that they owned. This isn’t to say that “Huawei” is being a patent troll with its move against “T-Mobile” since, by all accounts, it does have legs to stand on with regards to the 4G patents that the carrier is using, according to Android Police. However, the location does cast a shadow over what would otherwise have been a legitimate case by the Chinese telco.

‘T-Mobile” isn’t the first company that “Huawei” sued over patent infringement since it also sued “Samsung” over similar complaints in the past.