[Aju News DB]
Samsung Electronics, the world's largest mobile phone maker, said Friday it has sued Huawei Technologies, accusing the Chinese firm of infringing on six patents related to mobile phones and digital images.
Samsung declined to disclose details, but Chinese media said the suit, filed in China, called for about 25 billion won (22 million US dollars) in compensation and demanded Huawei and a local department store stop selling related products.
Samsung reportedly accused Huawei's smartphones and tablets for infringing on its patents for mobile communications technology, data storage for images and others.
The copyright war surfaced in May when Huawei, the world's third-largest smartphone maker after Samsung and Apple, claimed its fourth-generation cellular communications technology and software had been used in Samsung's phones without permission.
At the time, South Korea's Science, ICT and Future Planning Minister Choi Yang-hee said the suit revealed Huawei's "elaborate and sophisticated" strategy to project its image as a global company.
Huawei has held talks with Samsung over a cross-licensing agreement as it has done with Apple. Market watchers say Samsung and Huawei may seek a settlement out of court because the Chinese company is one of Samsung's main clients.
Previously, Chinese firms have adopted a defensive strategy as they could face a great amount of fine due to patent violations. But experts said Huawei has dumped its previous business model of selling cheap products in an effort to become a globally recognizable brand and a serious contender for Apple and Samsung.
There has been a flurry of patent lawsuits in the smartphone industry, which saw a high-profile patent war in 2011 when Apple accused Samsung of using unlicensed technology, leading to a number of suits against each other in several countries.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
