A legal conflict between two smartphone rivals has been escalated in China as more legal suits are filed against one after the other had done so some time back.

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd was sued for patent infringements through multiple courts in China by tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the South Korean company said on Friday.

Samsung and Huawei compete fiercely across the world in an industry that researcher IHS says is worth $332 billion this year and the most recent suits mark the latest salvo in a fight between the world’s No. 1 and No. 3 smartphone makers.

For allegedly infringing six of its patents, Huawei was sued in a Beijing court about two weeks ago by the South Korean firm, a spokeswoman said. However nothing was elaborated further about the other Chinese courts involved or the types of patents that are involved.

“Despite our best efforts to resolve this matter amicably, it has regrettably become necessary to take legal action in order to defend our intellectual property,” Samsung told Reuters in a statement.

It had not received a “formal complaint” but would defend itself as necessary, said the Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies. The company is also one of the world’s largest telecom equipment manufacturers.

“In the absence of a negotiated settlement, litigation is often an efficient way to resolve” intellectual property rights disputes, Huawei said in the statement.

The two companies have been involved in a pitched legal battle since the last few months.  Accusing Samsung of infringement on patents for fourth-generation (4G) cellular communications technology, operating systems and user interface software, its rival Huawei sued the former in the United States and China in May.

The law suits and the U.S. litigation that were filed by Huawei against Samsung marked something of a reversal of roles reflecting its growing clout in the global telecommunications and smartphone markets since most often it is the other way around where Chinese technology companies have been on the receiving end of such lawsuits.

The reason or the law suits were probably not motivated by monetary gains for both the companies as neither probably expects to make any financial gains from the litigations, said CIMB analyst Lee Do-hoon.

While Samsung’s suit might be a maneuver to force Huawei to settle its claims as soon as possible, Huawei could be angling to boost its reputation by taking on the top smartphone player, he said.

“If you look at the patent battle with Apple and Samsung … it ultimately created a lot of benefits for Samsung in a kind of an advertisement,” he said.

“Huawei might also be trying to create some noise marketing for itself,” he said. Eventually a deal such as a cross-licensing agreement is expected by him to be reached between the two companies.

In 2015 when a 44 percent jump in its shipments defied a market slowdown, Huawei became the first Chinese handset vendor to ship more than 100 million smartphones in a year.

(Adapted from Reuters)

Categories: Economy & Finance, Regulations & Legal