Qualcomm and Chinese smartphone maker Meizu have reached a patent-licensing agreement. Qualcomm had sued Meizu in several countries this year to force the smartphone vendor to license its patents. The new agreement settled all disputes between the two companies.

In a statement, Meizu President Bai Yongxiang said that the deal would add “tremendous value” to users and shareholders.

Alibaba backs Meizu. The Chinese e-commerce giant last year invested $590 million in Meizu without disclosing the size of its stake.

Qualcomm has now reached licensing agreements with the top 10 Chinese smartphone makers. Last week it announced that it had signed a similar licensing agreement with Gionee Communication Equipment, another provider of smartphones to the Chinese market.

The agreements come as Qualcomm’s patent-licensing practices face antitrust challenges in a number of regions. Most notably, Qualcomm is in a difficult situation in South Korea, where the antitrust regulator says the company is liable for breaching the South Korea’s competition law by licensing its patents only to smartphone makers. The Korean Fair Trade Commission said it would impose an $853 million fine and require that Qualcomm license its patents to competing makers of cellphone modem chips.

Those penalties won’t be carried out until the commission issues its formal written decision, and Qualcomm has vowed to appeal the decision.

Qualcomm earns more than half its profits from licensing its patents, and smaller Chinese smartphone makers until recently resisted paying the cost of licenses and royalties.

By: DocMemory
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