John Han of Qualcomm and Alan Fan of Huawei represented their companies in a new patent licensing agreement announced on October 5. Han is executive vice president and general manager of Qualcomm Technology Licensing, while Fan is Huawei’s chief intellectual property officer.
The multiyear deal sets up broad cross-licences to the companies’ respective patent portfolios across 5G, computing, artificial intelligence and networking. It covers foundational technologies used in telecommunications, semiconductors and computing, including 5G communications, computing architecture and enterprise networking.
Qualcomm will also buy select Huawei US patents in computing, artificial intelligence, networking and other technologies. The companies did not identify the patents involved.
The agreement is Huawei’s first patent licensing deal with Qualcomm to include 5G technologies. The companies’ relationship dates back at least to 2001, and they disclosed an earlier patent licensing agreement in July 2020.
Fan cited Huawei’s contributions to 4G/5G standards, including near-physical-limit signal transmission technology using polar codes, as evidence of the company’s leadership in mobile communications.
The transaction still requires customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals from relevant jurisdictions. The companies have not said which approvals are needed.
Neither company disclosed the financial terms, the value of the patent transfer or the precise length of the multiyear agreement. They said the arrangement reflected a commitment to intellectual property rights and fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing principles.
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