By WU Yangyu

Tech giants Huawei and Xiaomi are to cooperate on communication technologies including 5G. 

This collaboration, however, comes after years of disagreements between the two. Earlier this year, Huawei alleged infringement of their patents. The dispute escalated to involve the National Intellectual Property Administration. 

Xiaomi countered these claims, arguing the invalidity of four contested patents. Ultimately, the administration ruled in favor of Huawei, confirming the patents' validity and necessitating patent fee payments from Xiaomi. The cross-licensing agreement can be seen as a resolution to this long-standing dispute.

As both Huawei and Xiaomi continue to mature, their stance on IPR has evolved. They have formulated a more structured approach, exemplified by Xiaomi's release of its inaugural IP white paper on December 24, 2022. 

Huawei supremo Ren Zhengfei has said that the primary objective is safeguarding Huawei's own IP and preventing infringement, Today's approach centers on enabling the sharing of results across the industry.