US chip giant Qualcomm has agreed to pay to licence and acquire patents from China’s Huawei Technologies for the first time as part of a “multi-year, broad patent licence agreement” covering 5G, computing and artificial intelligence.
The deal involved cross-licensing between both firms’ patent portfolios, the Shenzhen-based firm said in a statement on Monday, adding that it included Qualcomm’s purchase of specific Huawei US patents across compute, AI, networking and other technologies.
The transaction did not involve any other business cooperation and remained subject to regulatory approvals, Huawei added. The value of the deal was not disclosed.
The two tech powerhouses settled a dispute in 2020, with Huawei agreeing to pay Qualcomm US$1.8 billion in back licensing fees. Meanwhile, Huawei has been pushing to monetise its vast patent portfolio in telecommunications, audio and video to boost returns on its continuous investments in research and development.
