Qualcomm, Meizu end disputes with mobile patent licence deal
All patent disputes between the two in China, Germany, France, and US resolved, and appropriate steps agreed to terminate or withdraw patent infringement litigation
Chinese smartphone maker Meizu Technology has agreed to resolve all of its outstanding disputes with Qualcomm under a new global patent licence deal with the US-based mobile chip giant.
In a joint statement on Friday, Qualcomm said it has granted Meizu a worldwide royalty-bearing patent licence to develop, manufacture and sell 3G and 4G devices.
They said the agreement resolves all patent cases between the two firms. Qualcomm had initiated litigation against Zhuhai-based Meizu in mainland China in June, as well as in Germany, France and the US in October.
The two companies said they will “take appropriate steps to terminate or withdraw the patent infringement litigations and respective invalidity proceedings or other related litigations”.
Founded in 2003, Meizu is one of a growing number of Chinese smartphone suppliers which sell a range of devices based on either the ubiquitous Android operating system or Alibaba Group’s own YunOS mobile platform.
New York-listed Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post, bought an undisclosed stake in privately held Meizu for US$590 million last year.