Qualcomm and Meizu Sign 3G/4G Global Patent License Agreement

View: 1827     Date: 2017-01-03 09:39

On December 30, 2016, San Diego, USA and Zhuhai, China -- Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) and Zhuhai Meizu Technology Co., Ltd. announced that the two parties have reached a patent licensing agreement on the basis of equal negotiation. Under the terms of the agreement, Qualcomm grants Meizu a license to develop, manufacture and sell CDMA2000, WCDMA and 4G LTE (including "triple-mode" GSM, TD-SCDMA and LTE-TDD) terminals worldwide. The royalties  Meizu should pay in China is in conformity with the terms of rectification plan submitted to the China’s National Development and Reform Commission by Qualcomm. The agreement has resolved all the patent disputes in China, Germany, France and the United States between Qualcomm and Meizu. Qualcomm and Meizu have agreed to take appropriate steps to terminate or withdraw the patent infringement litigations, related patent invalidity proceedings and other related litigations.

Earlier on December 26th, the China’s mobile phone manufacturer Gionee announced that it had reached a patent litigation settlement with Qualcomm before the former released their new products. So far, China's major mobile phone manufacturers have all reached a patent licensing agreement with Qualcomm.

The settlement reached between the two parties shows the growing consensus about valuing and respecting the intellectual property rights within the China’s mobile phone industry. The settlement of the patent disputes will enable China’s mobile phone manufacturers to put more effort into product development as well as the industrial transformation and upgrading so as to be adaptable to the ever changing consumption environment. Furthermore, the settlement also helps accelerate the pace of domestic mobile phone brands for stepping into overseas markets.

The settlement in fact is the result of "business is business" for both parties. The signing of the patent licensing agreement has removed a major obstacle for the further development of Meizu. Bai Yongxiang, President of Meizu Technology, said that the equal negotiations were push forward smoothly and resulted in the final agreement, which not merely created a win-win situation for users, marketing channels, shareholders and employees, but removed obstacles for Meizu's further development as well. Meizu will focus on products and aim at its goal to become a world-class design technology brand in the future.

For Qualcomm, the recent signing with OPPO, VIVO, Gionee and Meizu fully demonstrates that it has reached a patent consensus with the entire Chinese mobile phone industry and its patent licensing business model has been approved. Qualcomm will help these mobile phone manufacturers to upgrade their product lines both locally and globally, and support the wireless ecosystem of the mobile phone industry with its technology, based on which brand new products and services will be created. This, either for domestic mobile phone manufacturers or for Qualcomm, is not only a win-win result, but also leaves more room for the future cooperation and market expansion.

(International Affairs Dept. of Leader IP)