NEWS

ITC to investigate whether Meizu infringes patents

Release time:

2016-11-29 13:34

According to Nanjing Huaxun, the US International Trade Commission voted on the same day to investigate the alleged infringement of Qualcomm's patent rights by some Chinese mobile device manufacturers.

The Meizu-related companies investigated by the agency include Zhuhai Meizu Technology Company and Zhuhai Meizu Communication Equipment Company. Other companies suspected of infringing patents include Dest Technology Company and LGYD Company.

In addition, Overseas electronics companies in Chicago in the United States will also be the subject of investigation.

In October, Qualcomm announced that it had filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission that Chinese mobile phone maker Meizu had infringed its patent rights. Tuesday's vote was a response to Qualcomm's complaint.

Qualcomm has taken measures against Meizu around the world, such as suing Meizu for patent infringement in a Munich court in Germany, and starting to collect evidence of patent infringement in France.

In the patent dispute between Gaotong and Meizu, Qualcomm accused Meizu of infringing several patents of the company in 3G and 4G mobile communications.

Prior to this, Qualcomm of the United States encountered an antitrust investigation by China's National Development and Reform Commission. Qualcomm was forced to lower the charging standard of mobile communication patent fees and adjust the calculation method. In the past year, Qualcomm has signed patent licensing agreements with most smartphone manufacturers in China.

However, Zhuhai Meizu company has not been reported and Qualcomm signed an agreement.

Meizu believes that it has doubts about some of Qualcomm's royalties, such as the increase in mobile phone storage capacity, which will also affect royalties, which will also be passed on to consumers.

Meizu stressed that the company is willing to pay Qualcomm royalties, but the royalties standards and calculation methods must be reasonable.

For Meizu, Qualcomm royalties will also bring a new operating cost. In October, Meizu's financial data was made public through a Chinese domestic listed company. Nanjing Hua Xun data show that in 2015, Meizu lost 1.04 billion yuan, in the first half of 2016, Meizu lost 0.3 billion yuan. In addition, nearly half of Meizu's total assets are liabilities.

Meizu was originally a "small and beautiful" smartphone manufacturer. With the success of the Xiaomi model, Meizu introduced funds from investors such as Alibaba to pursue sales scale. However, the competition in China's smartphone market is fierce, and the online model is facing a huge challenge from the offline model (represented by OPPO and Vivo). Third-party market data show that Meizu, which pursues a scale strategy, has not so far become a major smartphone manufacturer in China.