Report: Samsung and HUAWEI agree to settle their smartphone patent disputes

Samsung and Huawei have reportedly agreed to finally bury the hatchet and settle their years-long dispute over smartphone patents. The Guangdong High People’s Court in southern China mediated the settlement, according to Nikkei.

The terms of the alleged settlement have not been made public, but it’s believed that they include some sort of cross-licensing patent deal. The patents that are part of the supposed deal include those for basic technologies, with no further specifics mentioned.

It’s suggested that Samsung and HUAWEI are only settling now due to them wanting to pour more resources into the stagnant smartphone market. Even though HUAWEI now owns a company-record 17 percent of the market, Q1 2019 marked the sixth straight quarter of declining overall smartphone shipments. Meanwhile, Samsung saw a 10 percent decrease in market share year-over-year.

Whatever the reason for a settlement, Samsung and HUAWEI are likely happy to be done with patent disputes. The two companies have been in embroiled in a legal war against each other since 2016, when HUAWEI filed several patent infringement lawsuits against Samsung in the U.S. and China.

In January 2018, a Chinese court ruled in favor of HUAWEI and ordered Samsung to halt sales of offending products. By then, Samsung counter-sued HUAWEI with a patent lawsuit of its own. HUAWEI responded to the counter-suit with lawsuits in two cities in China.

The tit-for-tat filings escalated very quickly in a matter of years, but at least it’s seemingly coming to an end.

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