Huawei says it faces โirreparable damageโ if IP is transferred to NSN
The Northen Illinois District Court has partially upheld Huaweiโs application to prevent Motorola taking Huawei intellectual property with it when it is bought by Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN). The court issued a temporary restraining order preventing Motorola from transferring information about Huaweiโs IP to NSN.
A court statement said, โDefendants Motorola, Inc., Motorola Solutions, Inc., and Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. (โMotorolaโ) are hereby ordered not to disclose any of Plaintiffโs confidential information to Defendants Nokia Siemens Networks US LLC and Nokia Siemens Networks B.V. (โNSNโ). Defendants are ordered to provide the Court and Plaintiff with immediate written notice of any action taken by MOFCOM concerning the pending transaction between Motorola and NSN.โ
Huawei applied yesterday to the District Court to prevent Motorola from โillegallyโ (in Huaweiโs words) transferring Huaweiโs intellectual property (IP) to NSN. NSN is lining up a US$1.2 billion acquisition of Motorolaโs wireless network business.
Huawei claims that since 2000, it and Motorola have had a cooperative relationship in the radio access network and core network businesses, where Motorola has resold Huawei wireless network products to customers under the Motorola name. During this period, Motorola was provided with products and โconfidential Huawei IPโ.
Since the July 2010 announcement by NSN of its purchase of Motorolaโs wireless network business, Huawei said that it has tried to ensure that Motorola does not transfer this information to NSN โ but it has not been convinced by Motorolaโs actions.
A Huawei statement said: โMotorola, however, has not responded with assurances that it will prevent disclosure of that information to NSN. If Huaweiโs proprietary commercial property and information is transferred to a third party, Huawei will suffer irreparable commercial damage.โ
Huawei claims that Motorolaโs failure to adopt measures sufficient to ensure that Huaweiโs proprietary information remains confidential has compelled the company to file for the appropriate legal protection of its rights.