Qualcomm Resolves All Patent Disputes With Meizu
Qualcomm and Meizu Technology have reached a patent license agreement whereby Qualcomm grants Meizu a worldwide royalty-bearing patent license to develop, manufacture and sell CDMA2000, WCDMA and 4G LTE (including "3-mode" GSM, TD-SCDMA and LTE-TDD) complete devices.
The royalties payable by Meizu in China are consistent with the terms of the rectification plan submitted by Qualcomm to China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). This agreement resolves all of the patent disputes between Qualcomm and Meizu in China, Germany, France, and the United States. Qualcomm and Meizu have agreed to take appropriate steps to terminate or withdraw the patent infringement litigations and respective invalidity proceedings or other related litigations.
In February last year, Qualcomm announced it had paid US$975 million to settle a case brought by China's National Development and Reform Commission accusing the company of abusing its dominant position in the chip market for mobile phones.
The deal with the Chinese government let Qualcomm sign licensing agreements with most of China's major phone makers.
While sales of semiconductors provide the bulk of the Qualcomm's revenue, technology licensing generated 75 percent of its pretax profit in the 2016 fiscal year.
This week, South Korea's antitrust regulator slapped a record 1.03 trillion won (US$856 million) fine on Qualcomm for violating antitrust laws.
That decision, which Qualcomm is appealing, is part of a string of investigations the company is facing including in Taiwan, the US and Europe.