U.S. chip firm Qualcomm has agreed to license and acquire patents from China’s Huawei Technologies for the first time as part of a “multi-year, broad patent license agreement” covering 5G, computing and artificial intelligence (AI). The deal involved cross-licensing between both firms’ patent portfolios. The transaction remained subject to regulatory approvals and its value was not disclosed. The two tech powerhouses settled a dispute in 2020, with Huawei agreeing to pay Qualcomm USD1.8 billion in back licensing fees. Meanwhile, Huawei has been pushing to monetize its vast patent portfolio in telecommunications, audio and video to boost returns on its continuous investments in research and development (R&D). The latest deal not only showed “the value of Huawei’s innovations”, but also recognized Qualcomm’s “foundational contributions to modern communication technologies”, said Alan Fan, Huawei’s Chief Intellectual Property Officer. John Han, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Qualcomm Technology Licensing, said the agreement “reaffirms industry recognition of Qualcomm’s 5G technology leadership” and “likewise reflects Qualcomm’s recognition of Huawei’s continued innovation and intellectual property in 5G and other technology fields”.
Including the Qualcomm deal, Huawei’s total contract value from patent licensing agreements has exceeded USD6.9 billion since the first such income from Motorola in 2011. Huawei has expanded the influence of its intellectual property through more than 260 licensing deals with major global tech firms including Nokia, Samsung and Amazon, alongside domestic smartphone rivals like Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi. Prior to the Qualcomm deal, Huawei settled disputes with HP in August via a multi-year global patent cross-licensing agreement covering their respective Wi-fi patents.
According to its annual report, Huawei invested CNY192.3 billion in research and development (R&D) in 2025, equal to nearly 22% of its total revenue. One of the world’s largest patent holders, Huawei held 165,000 active granted patents worldwide as of 2025.
In 2022, Huawei Founder Ren Zhengfei urged the company’s intellectual property team to step up efforts to turn its vast pool of patents into revenue via “reasonable pricing” and to “generate an appropriate return” on its investments. In June, Huawei announced that it would start charging royalties for its Wi-fi 7 technologies, the newest wireless standard, with the rate set at USD0.50 per unit. A key player in Wi-fi licensing, Huawei’s patent licensing deals covered 1.6 billion devices globally by the end of 2025, the firm said, as reported by the South China Morning Post.
