Context: In 2011, Huawei made its first-ever IP license payment, and it was to Qualcomm. That same year, the company also made its first IP license income, from Motorola. Huawei is now one of the top patent holders in China, with over 55,000 active patents by 2025 – and by the end of 2025, 53 of Fortune Global 500 companies had obtained licenses to Huawei patents.
What’s new: Huawei and Qualcomm have signed a multi-year, broad patent license agreement that includes cross-licenses to the companies’ patent portfolios across a range of technology fields, including 5G, compute, AI, and networking, together with Qualcomm’s purchase of certain Huawei U.S. patents in the areas of compute, AI, networking, and other technologies. The deal was made on an amicable basis.
Direct impact and wider ramifications: The deal, which is the first between Huawei and Qualcomm covering 5G technologies, reflects the companies’ shared commitment to IP and licensing practices consistent with fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) principles, the companies announced. The agreement is subject to regulatory approvals, or rather a review under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR Act). The patents that Qualcomm is purchasing amount to approximately 0.23% of Huawei’s global patent portfolio (it currently has 296,248 active patents and patent applications, so roughly 681). Only deals involving patent purchases that are worth over $133.9 million (in this case, it could be much higher) are subject to review under the HSR Act. If the deal is approved, Huawei’s expected contract value from patent licensing agreements will exceed $6.9 billion.
In a statement today, Alan Fan, Huawei’s Chief Intellectual Property Officer, said it is the company’s Huawei’s broad contributions to the 4G/5G standards, such as the near-physical-limit signal transmission technology using polar codes, that have established its leadership in the mobile communications industry, and continuously transformed the way people communicate and live. He added:
“This agreement not only demonstrates the value of Huawei’s innovations, but also recognizes Qualcomm’s foundational contributions to modern communication technologies.”
Also in a statement today, John Han, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Qualcomm Technology Licensing (whom ip fray interviewed last month: September 1, 2026 ip fray article), said this agreement “reaffirms industry recognition” of Qualcomm’s 5G technology leadership and the success of its 5G SEP licensing program. It also reflects Qualcomm’s recognition of Huawei’s “continued innovation and IP in 5G and other technology fields”, he added.
Logic Folding included
This agreement will grant Qualcomm access to certain Huawei technologies relating to logic folding, and co-packaged optics (CPO)/near-packaged optics (NPO) for high-efficiency, high-bandwidth, and high-density interconnects (May 25, 2026 ip fray article).