Huawei and Qualcomm have entered into a multi-year patent license agreement covering a broad range of technologies, including 5G, compute, artificial intelligence and networking.
The agreement includes cross-licenses to the companies’ respective patent portfolios across those technology fields.
As part of the transaction, Qualcomm will also purchase certain Huawei U.S. patents covering compute, AI, networking and other technologies.
The patent purchase remains subject to receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals before the transaction can close.
The broader licensing agreement reflects the companies’ continued emphasis on intellectual property rights and on licensing practices consistent with fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory, or FRAND, principles.
The arrangement gives both companies rights to use portions of each other’s patent portfolios in several areas that are central to next-generation communications and computing.
For Qualcomm, the agreement reinforces the role of its technology licensing business and its portfolio of standard-essential patents tied to 5G and other wireless technologies.
Qualcomm has spent decades developing foundational wireless technologies used across successive generations of mobile communications.
The company said the new agreement reflects industry recognition of its 5G technology leadership and the continued importance of its 5G standard-essential patent licensing program.
Huawei, meanwhile, has built a large intellectual property portfolio through sustained investment in research and development across mobile communications and adjacent technology fields.
The company highlighted its contributions to 4G and 5G standards, including polar-code signal transmission technology.
The agreement also extends beyond traditional wireless communications by covering compute, AI and networking technologies, reflecting the expanding overlap between connectivity, processing and intelligent systems.
Qualcomm’s planned acquisition of certain Huawei U.S. patents gives the transaction an additional strategic component beyond cross-licensing.
Those patents are tied to compute, artificial intelligence, networking and other technologies and will become part of Qualcomm’s intellectual property portfolio if the regulatory approvals required for the transaction are obtained.
The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the licensing agreement or the patent purchase.
The agreement comes as both Qualcomm and Huawei continue investing heavily in technologies that increasingly combine advanced computing, connectivity and AI.
Qualcomm’s broader business includes both its Qualcomm Technology Licensing operation and its semiconductor and product businesses, while Huawei continues to develop technology across telecommunications infrastructure, devices, computing and other areas.
By establishing cross-licenses across several technology categories, the companies are creating a framework intended to reduce intellectual property uncertainty while allowing each side to continue developing products around overlapping technology standards and capabilities.
KEY QUOTES:
“Qualcomm has invested in foundational wireless technologies that have enabled successive generations of mobile innovation and earned broad recognition across the global wireless industry. This agreement reaffirms industry recognition of Qualcomm’s 5G technology leadership and the success of Qualcomm’s 5G SEP licensing program.”
“This agreement likewise reflects Qualcomm’s recognition of Huawei’s continued innovation and intellectual property in 5G and other technology fields.”
John Han, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Qualcomm Technology Licensing
“Huawei’s decades of sustained investment in fundamental R&D have driven innovation and progress in mobile communications and other technology fields. Huawei’s broad contributions to the 4G/5G standards, such as the near-physical-limit signal transmission technology using polar codes, have established Huawei’s leadership in the mobile communications industry, and continuously transformed the way people communicate and live.”
“This agreement not only demonstrates the value of Huawei’s innovations, but also recognizes Qualcomm’s foundational contributions to modern communication technologies.”
Alan Fan, Chief Intellectual Property Officer of Huawei
