Huawei files with second China court in Samsung patent suit

Tuesday, 12 July 2016 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

HONG KONG/SEOUL (Reuters): Huawei Technologies Co Ltd has submitted a filing with a second court in China as part of a patent lawsuit against smartphone rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

Quanzhou Intermediate People’s Court spokesman Wang Zhiwei told Reuters the court accepted the case recently but did not provide further details on what infringements Huawei is claiming in the lawsuit and when the suit was filed.

In May, Huawei sued Samsung in the United States and China, seeking compensation for what the Chinese firm said was unlicensed use of fourth-generation cellular communications technology, operating systems and user interface software in Samsung phones.

A Huawei spokeswoman said on Thursday its filing to the Quanzhou court, made in June, was for the same case as the one it started in May against Samsung. She said the nature of the case required Huawei to submit “technical filings” to two courts in its home country. The other court is in Shenzhen.

A Samsung spokeswoman said the South Korean company would “thoroughly review the complaint” and take appropriate action to defend its interests.

Huawei’s patent challenge marks a reversal of roles in China, as phone makers there have often been on the receiving end of such lawsuits. Last year, Xiaomi Inc was forced briefly to halt sales of handsets in India after a patent infringement complaint from telecom equipment maker Ericsson .