Just As We Warned: A Chinese Tech Giant Goes On The Patent Attack -- In East Texas

Patents

from the we-don't-want-to-say-'we-told-you-so',-but... dept

Thu, Jul 21st 2016 3:27am — Glyn Moody

Techdirt has been warning for years that the West's repeated demands for China to "respect" patents could backfire badly. In 2010, Mike pointed out that Chinese companies were starting to amass huge patent portfolios, which were soon used as weapons against foreign firms operating in China, most notably Apple. In another 2010 post, Mike wrote the following:

Huawei, the Chinese networking giant, has taken over the lead as filing the most international patents of any company. Just wait until American companies, whose execs complained about China "not respecting intellectual property," start getting sued in East Texas for violating Huawei's patents.

And guess what? That is exactly what has just happened, as The Wall Street Journal reports: Huawei Technologies Co. said it has filed a lawsuit against T-Mobile US Inc., alleging the U.S. telecommunications carrier violated the Chinese company’s patents related to wireless networks.

In its complaint filed this week in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Huawei said T-Mobile is using its patented technology without signing a licensing agreement.
There is an uncanny closeness between those two stories, even though six years separate them. In part, of course, that's because of Mike's ability to spot trends well ahead of others (no, he didn't tell me to write that...) But it's also down to the fact that this trend was really obvious to anyone who was able to consider the situation dispassionately. Sadly, that seems to exclude most of the people demanding that fast-growing economies around the world should start to "respect" patents.

Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and +glynmoody on Google+

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: china, east texas, patent troll, patents, protectionism
Companies: huawei, t-mobile

26 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

MadAsASnake (profile), 21 Jul 2016 @ 4:14am

What is the betting that the US gov suddenly takes an interest in cleaning up patent trolling in East Texas as a matter of priority? Either that or foreign companies find that East Texas isn't friendly except for local?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Vincent Clement (profile), 21 Jul 2016 @ 5:41am
  
  Re:
  So long as the patent lawsuits are filed, East Texas doesn't care where you are from. Is Samsung a local company?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 21 Jul 2016 @ 6:55am
  
  Re:
  It is ridiculous that a Chinese company has chosen to file a patent dispute against a company with headquarters in Washington in East Texas. Should give you reason to pause ...
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Padpaw (profile), 21 Jul 2016 @ 8:17am
  
  Re:
  the US government could always pass a law forbidding foreign corporations from suing in the US. That is the sort of arrogance I expect from them.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Saiph, 21 Jul 2016 @ 5:00am

...six years separate them
Considering most executives really only care about the next quarter, what happens six years later is of no concern to them. They make their fast money and bail out before the repercussions hit.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Padpaw (profile), 21 Jul 2016 @ 8:18am
  
  Re: ...six years separate them
  Robert Kotick is a prime example of this type of thinking
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Jul 2016 @ 5:06am

Abolish IP
The idea of owning ideas is absurd and corrupt. Abolish IP.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Éibhear (profile), 21 Jul 2016 @ 5:28am

Huawei will honour Mike
On the wall in the Huawei HQ, in the corridor leading to the main board-room, there hangs a 12' picture of Mike, honouring him as the inspiration for the bold and soon-to-be lucrative move.

"...that's because of Mike's ability to spot trends well ahead of others (no, he didn't tell me to write that...)"

Next to Mike's portrait is a clear space with a small note reading: "Reserved for Glyn's portrait, to be commissioned when his potential is realised."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 21 Jul 2016 @ 6:40am
  
  Re: Huawei will honour Mike
  lol - wut?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
HegemonicDistortion (profile), 21 Jul 2016 @ 5:42am

Now we'll probably get some congressional action (and even more grandstanding).
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Zarvus (profile), 21 Jul 2016 @ 9:30am
  
  Re:
  Maybe we can just give them east Texas.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Avideogameplayer, 21 Jul 2016 @ 5:56am

What's that saying? 'Live by the sword...'

That's probably patented too...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- peter, 22 Jul 2016 @ 8:04am
  
  Re:
  nope...just copyrighted.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Jul 2016 @ 6:16am

The biggest news is KAT shutting down because of Facebook and Apple, two shitty companies.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ninja (profile), 21 Jul 2016 @ 7:06am

TD has been warning about it in multiple fronts for years now. I was eagerly waiting for this. Now American companies engaged in these disputes among themselves will have to deal with the external barrage from China and possibly elsewhere. Kick back and watch the show folks, let's see if the deep pockets will save them.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Lord Lidl of Cheem (profile), 21 Jul 2016 @ 7:30am

Halford, fetch me my slightly larger told-you-so pants...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Jul 2016 @ 8:28am

We will break you at home, we will break you in the South China Sea. Bless China and her industrious people. Largest Telescope, most powerful supercomputer. Kow Tow to your superior westerner.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- lucidrenegade (profile), 21 Jul 2016 @ 9:03am
  
  Re:
  http://bit.ly/1cvNE9l
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 21 Jul 2016 @ 3:57pm
  
  Re:
  ... Largest Telescope, most powerful supercomputer...
  
  fleeting moments
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
David, 21 Jul 2016 @ 9:17am

Yawn
East Texas is a backwater place where the people constituting the juries and also the judges know which side they want to see their bread buttered on. Yes, the procedural simplifications of East Texas will also benefit the Chinese, so they'll lose cheaper and faster.

The juries there might view favorably having a few well-sponsored taco bars opening for business. But wok joints? Not interested. I think that this experiment will not get a whole lot of repetitions.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 21 Jul 2016 @ 1:23pm
  
  Re: Yawn
  Do you know how long I've been looking for some decent Yakisoba? If it takes some Chinese execs to abuse our IP laws to satisfy my noodle craving I say welcome to the US.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ryunosuke (profile), 21 Jul 2016 @ 9:28am

*heads to the TD store to buy TD brand E-popcorn*
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Shilling, 21 Jul 2016 @ 10:27am

Don't worry. It's only T-Mobile us. As soon as Verizon or Comcast are hit laws will change.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Stosh, 21 Jul 2016 @ 11:37am

Problem: With many major international companies involved it can take years and many appeals to decide anything, and they turn the law into a pretzel.

Solution: Force the CEOs of the companies to compete in a WWF steel cage match, winner take all. Pay Per View could even turn a profit and the results would make as much sense as some of the court proceedings....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 21 Jul 2016 @ 3:32pm

Actually the real end game is when they sue a US company in China, rather than Texas. But once that happens, it's already too late.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Monday (profile), 22 Jul 2016 @ 9:53am

And Trump just doubled-down...
And Trump just doubled-down... as of last night, during his speech. He stated that he was firmly committed to going after those Chinese for "[...] stealing American intellectual property."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]