Huawei renews patent licensing deal with Ericsson

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei said on Aug. 25 it had renewed a licensing agreement with Ericsson to use each other's technologies, in a rebuff to U.S. warnings about the risk of espionage by Beijing.

Huawei has been at the center of an intense technological rivalry between China and the United States, which suspects the company of spying for Beijing, accusations Huawei denies.

U.S. sanctions on Huawei since 2019 have cut off the firm from global supply chains for American components and hobbled its smartphone arm, forcing it to pivot towards other forms of growth.

Washington has also pressured its allies to ban the use of Huawei gear in their 5G telecoms networks, arguing that Beijing could use the equipment to spy on other countries' communications and data traffic.

Despite those tensions, Huawei and Ericsson, based in Stockholm, have signed a "long-term" global agreement to license each other's patents, the Chinese company said in a statement on Aug. 25.

The deal covers patents essential to 3G, 4G and 5G cellular technologies as well as both companies' "respective sales of network infrastructure and consumer devices," Huawei said.

The company's intellectual property chief, Alan Fan, said the agreement "demonstrates the commitment both parties have forged that intellectual property should be properly respected and protected."

"Our commitment to sharing leading technological innovations will drive healthy, sustainable industry development and provide consumers with more robust products and services," he said.