Huawei and Qualcomm sign multi-year patent agreement for 5G and artificial intelligence

Huawei Technologies announced on Monday that it has agreed a broad multi-year patent licensing deal with Qualcomm, covering artificial intelligence, 5G, computing and networking technologies, as Reuters reports.

According to Huawei’s statement, the agreement includes Qualcomm’s purchase of some of the Chinese company’s U.S. patents related to computing, artificial intelligence and networks. This is the first patent licensing agreement between the two companies that also covers 5G technologies.

Huawei said the deal is expected to take the total value of its patent licensing agreements to more than $6.9 billion once it is completed. According to the company, its intellectual property licensing business has generated positive revenue since 2021, as a result of heavy multi-year investment in research and development, as Reuters reports.

The Chinese company has significantly increased its research and development spending in recent years, after U.S. trade restrictions since 2019 limited its ability to buy advanced chips and key software. Huawei made its first licensing payment to Qualcomm in 2001, while it received its first licensing revenue in 2011 from Motorola. The deal with Qualcomm follows a licensing agreement with HP Inc that Huawei announced in August.