Huawei and Qualcomm strike broad patent cross-license, Huawei says.

Huawei and Qualcomm today announced a multi-year, broad patent license agreement that includes cross-licenses across 5G, compute, AI, and networking, together with Qualcomm’s purchase of certain Huawei U.S. patents in those areas and other technologies, Huawei said in a Shenzhen release. The companies did not disclose financial terms.

The purchase “will close following receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals,” Huawei said. The release does not name a U.S. agency. Nikkei Asia separately reported that the deal will need U.S. regulatory review. That U.S. review framing is Nikkei’s reporting, not wording in Huawei’s English primary statement.

Huawei framed the pact as consistent with fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing. Alan Fan, Huawei’s chief intellectual property officer, said the agreement “demonstrates the value of Huawei’s innovations” and “recognizes Qualcomm’s foundational contributions to modern communication technologies.” John Han, Qualcomm’s licensing head, said in quotes carried in the same Huawei release that the deal “reaffirms industry recognition of Qualcomm’s 5G technology leadership” and reflects Qualcomm’s recognition of Huawei’s IP in 5G and other fields. Qualcomm’s own newsroom page for the announcement returned a 403 Forbidden response when fetched, so those Han lines are attributed through Huawei’s release and a Media OutReach mirror, not an independently readable Qualcomm-hosted body.

Reuters, attributing Huawei, said this is the companies’ first patent licensing deal covering 5G, that Huawei’s patent-licensing agreements would total more than $6.9 billion once the deal is completed, and that Huawei’s IP licensing business has been profitable since 2021. Those figures are Huawei-attributed via Reuters. They are not in the English primary PR body retrieved for this rewrite, and the $6.9 billion line is a portfolio cumulative claim, not a disclosed price for this Qualcomm transaction. The value of this deal remains undisclosed.

Nikkei Asia reported that Qualcomm would pay to use Huawei patents for the first time and that, if approved, Qualcomm would become the net payer for the first time. Treat that as Nikkei-only. Neither company’s primary statement published royalty rates, a purchase price, or a net-payment comparison.

A cross-license that puts Huawei patents into Qualcomm’s U.S. purchase path is a rare public thaw in an IP fight that has run for years. Whether Qualcomm is the net payer, and what the deal is worth, are still claims the companies have not put in their own release.