Republican senator Mark Rubio’s legislation filing will prevent Huawei from seeking damages in US patent courts.
WASHINGTON: US senator Marco Rubio filed legislation on Monday that would prevent Huawei Technologies from seeking damages in US patent courts, after the Chinese firm demanded that Verizon Communications pay US$1 billion to license the rights to patented technology. Under the amendment – seen by Reuters – companies on certain US government watch lists, which would include Huawei, would not be allowed to seek relief under US law with respect to US patents, including bringing legal action over patent infringement.
On June 12, a person briefed on the matter said Huawei had told Verizon that it should pay licensing fees for more than 230 of the Chinese telecoms equipment maker’s patents and in aggregate is seeking more than US$1 billion.National security experts worry that “back doors” in routers, switches and other Huawei equipment could allow China to spy on US communications.
While the measure is several steps from becoming law, lawmakers have successfully used the NDAA in past years to crack down on the Chinese firm.