On December 15, the Munich Regional Court ruled in favor of Huawei in a patent dispute over wifi routers against Amazon. The court found that two European subsidiaries of Amazon and Eero (a wifi router manufacturer owned by Amazon) infringed Huawei’s European patent EP 3334112. As a result, Amazon may no longer sell its own wifi routers in Germany. However, the ruling does not affect the sale of third-party wifi routers through the Amazon platform.

Huawei also sued other companies, such as Netgear and car group Stellantis, over wifi router patents. The Chinese company filed a lawsuit against the former in the Düsseldorf Regional Court. Back in 2022, Huawei sued Stellantis, arguing that mobile phone patents played a role in car connectivity. The Netherlands-based company produces about 6 million cars annually under brands such as Fiat, Opel, Peugeot and Citroën.

Huawei sought injunctive relief, information and accounting, destruction, recall and damages.

However, the ruling only affects the wifi routers produced by Amazon and Eero themselves, such as the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4k. Other manufacturers may continue to sell their products through the Amazon platform.

Potential losses

Huawei can enforce the ruling against a security deposit of 4.5 million euros. Amazon may appeal the decision. However, since the court has not yet issued a written ruling, Amazon has not yet decided whether to appeal.

If the ruling is upheld, Amazon will have to compensate Huawei for the losses suffered since March 19, 2020. It is reported that Amazon has not yet filed a nullity suit against patent EP112, but instead focused on the FRAND defense.

Four claims against Amazon

The ruling is part of a larger Wifi 6 patent dispute. Huawei also sued Amazon in Munich over another Wifi 6 patent. The court will hear the case in March 2024. In Düsseldorf and Munich, Huawei sued Amazon over Wifi 5 patents, but the court has not yet set a date for the oral hearing.

Huawei also filed two infringement lawsuits against Fritzbox manufacturer AVM in the Munich Regional Court. In November last year, media reported that the court ordered AVM to stop selling. The court found that the Wifi -6 technology in AVM products infringed Huawei’s EP 3337 077. AVM appealed the ruling afterwards.

In addition, Huawei also sued other companies, such as Netgear and car group Stellantis, over wifi router patents. The Chinese company filed a lawsuit against the former in the Düsseldorf Regional Court. Back in 2022, Huawei sued Stellantis, arguing that mobile phone patents played a role in car connectivity. The Netherlands-based company produces about 6 million cars annually under brands such as Fiat, Opel, Peugeot and Citroën.

Huawei turns to UPC

Although Huawei only sued Amazon and AVM in the German patent courts, the Chinese company escalated the dispute with Netgear to the Unified Patent Court in July. Previously, Huawei had not been successful in the Düsseldorf Regional Court. The court dismissed one of Huawei’s lawsuits and stayed the second one.