Qualcomm has filed a complaint against Chinese smartphone maker Meizu at Beijing Intellectual Property Court. The Chinese company Meizu is the maker of $92 M3 smartphones. Meizu has been sued by Qualcomm over copyright infringement claim.
The chipmaker has been forced to take action against Meizu because they were unable to come to a licensing agreement. The companies failed to negotiate terms to sign the patent license agreement, which is approved by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
The Qualcomm press release states:
“Although Qualcomm would have preferred to reach a resolution with Meizu without the need for litigation, Meizu, unfortunately, has been unwilling to negotiate in good faith and enter into a license agreement on the rectification plan terms. While unfairly expanding its business through the use of Qualcomm’s innovations without compensating Qualcomm for the use of Qualcomm’s valuable technologies. In contrast, more than 100 other companies have already accepted the rectification plan terms, including the largest Chinese mobile device suppliers.”
Don Roserberg executive vice president and general counsel of Qualcomm Incorporated said that Meizu is using the company’s IP address without paying for it. He also highlighted that the company does not focus on damages but wants to set equivalence in Chinese companies. He further added “Qualcomm’s technologies are at the heart of all mobile devices. Meizu is choosing to use these technologies without a license, which is not only unlawful but is unfair to other licensees. That are acting in good faith and respectful of patent rights, and ultimately damaging to the mobile ecosystem and consumers.”
According to the Deigo-based chip makers, Meizu is infringing connectivity patents for 3G and 4G in their MediaTek- Powered smartphones. Meizu has already faced legal battles in the past. The company was sued by Apple for infringing iPhone design and by ZTE for using Halo-style home buttons on their smartphones.