(Yicai) July 19 -- The patent fee disagreement between Chinese tech giant Huawei technologies and chipmaker MediaTek, which is thought to involve mobile communication technologies, remains in the courts and after two to three years of negotiations the two parties are still no closer to coming to an agreement, a person close to MediaTek told Yicai.

The case is still in the courts and will not affect MediaTek’s operations, the Hsinchu-based maker of chips for handsets and computers said today in response to media reports that Huawei has filed a patent lawsuit against MediaTek that might relate to mobile communication technologies, such as fourth or fifth generation networks.

Neither party has given details about the patent involved in the lawsuit.

MediaTek felt that the price Huawei was asking for the technology was too high, the source told Yicai.

“MediaTek has had a disagreement with Huawei on the amount charged for a particular patent, but how everything turns out depends on Huawei’s stance and whether the Shenzhen-based firm chooses to settle,” the person said.

Unlike previous patent lawsuits filed by telecoms equipment manufacturers such as Qualcomm and Nokia, Huawei’s is aimed at a chip manufacturer, not a mobile phone maker.

If patent fees are shifted to component manufacturers, then mobile phone makers such as Apple, Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi will have to pay less in patent licensing fees and this might mean that smartphones get cheaper, some media reports said.

Previously, Huawei maintained that there are two major approaches to global patent licensing. One is bilateral licensing between two companies, and the other is “one-stop” licensing via patent pools, through which participants can either provide licenses to other members or obtain licenses from other members. Huawei also recommended two main methods in terms of rates. One is based on a single terminal, while the other is based on the percentage.

In the past few years, Huawei has been expanding its patent revenue globally. Shen Hongfei, vice president of Huawei’s legal department and head of the major projects department, once said that Huawei believes that patent charges should be reasonable.

Huawei’s patent licensing revenue was about USD560 million in 2022, Shen said. This was the second year where the firm’s patent licensing revenue was higher than its patent expenses.

Editor: Kim Taylor