Huawei and Sharp announced that they have signed a new long-term global patent cross-licensing agreement. The agreement covers cellular standard essential patents, including 4G and 5G, according to a notice posted on Huawei’s official website.

Fan Zhiyong, head of Huawei’s intellectual property department, said: “Huawei is pleased to reach this new licensing agreement with Sharp through friendly communication.”

“The licensing agreement reflects the mutual recognition of intellectual property by the two companies as standard contributors, and also promotes the cooperation of standardization. We have always been committed to working with our peers in Japan and around the world to develop technology standards, and we will continue to cooperate with our peers in the future. Advanced technology standards can improve user experience, promote competition, and reduce equipment and service costs.” Fan Zhiyong added.

Mototaka Taneya, executive officer, chief technology officer, and head of research and development at Sharp, said: “We are delighted to reach this global patent cross-licensing agreement with Huawei on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. The agreement reflects the respect of both parties for each other’s high-value intellectual property.”

According to previous reports, in September this year, Huawei and Xiaomi announced that they had reached a global patent cross-licensing agreement, covering communication technologies including 5G.