Qualcomm Sues Transsion Holdings in India for Patent Infringement
On the evening of July 12, according to foreign media IPfray, Qualcomm is suing Transsion Holdings Group in the Delhi High Court of India for infringing on four non-standard essential patents.
In response to this matter, Transsion said that it has signed a 5G standard patent licensing agreement with Qualcomm and is fulfilling the agreement, and will continue to conduct patent negotiations with third parties to determine a reasonable licensing fee. As of the time before the press release, Qualcomm has not commented.
Transsion said that its sales network covers more than 70 emerging market countries in Africa, South Asia, etc. In these countries, some patent holders do not own or only have a small number of patents, but they demand an overly high licensing fee according to the global unified rate, without considering factors such as differences in the economic development level of different regions, no patents or only a small number of patents in a specific region or market, and different rates provided in existing precedents in different regions.
We believe that the practices of some patent holders do not fully follow the principles of fairness, reasonableness and non-discrimination. Transsion will continue to conduct patent negotiations with third parties to promote the determination of a reasonable licensing fee under the framework of the principles of fairness, reasonableness and non-discrimination while respecting the intellectual property rights of others.
Data shows that the sales of Transsion mobile phones have increased rapidly in recent years. The global smartphone market data for the first quarter of 2024 released by research agency Canalys recently shows that the top five mobile phone manufacturers are Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, Transsion and OPPO. In the first quarter, the shipment of Transsion mobile phones reached 28.6 million units, with a market share of 10%, achieving an 86% growth.
The following is the full text of Transsion's response:
Transsion respects the intellectual property rights of third parties and is willing to follow the principles of fairness, reasonableness and non-discrimination (Fair, Reasonable, Non-Discriminatory principle) and reach an intellectual property licensing agreement with the patent holder through friendly negotiation. We have signed a 5G standard patent licensing agreement with Qualcomm and are fulfilling the agreement.
Transsion's sales network covers more than 70 emerging market countries in Africa, South Asia, etc. In these countries, some patent holders do not own or only have a small number of patents, but they demand an overly high licensing fee according to the global unified rate, without considering factors such as differences in the economic development level of different regions, no patents or only a small number of patents in a specific region or market, and different rates provided in existing precedents in different regions. We believe that the practices of some patent holders do not fully follow the principles of fairness, reasonableness and non-discrimination.
In the mobile phone industry, intellectual property litigation occurs frequently. Domestic and foreign mobile phone brands have already or are currently facing intellectual property litigation in the process of operation. Transsion will continue to conduct patent negotiations with third parties to promote the determination of a reasonable licensing fee under the framework of the principles of fairness, reasonableness and non-discrimination while respecting the intellectual property rights of others, in order to achieve a win-win situation for the entire industry chain including patent holders and licensees, and to better meet the needs of consumers in a large number of emerging markets.