HomeInsightsHuawei wins stay against Motorola sharing IP with NSN

Huawei wins stay against Motorola sharing IP with NSN

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Huawei says it faces โ€œirreparable damageโ€ if IP is transferred to NSN

The Northen Illinois District Court has partially upheld Huaweiโ€™s 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 Huaweiโ€™s IP to NSN.

A court statement said, โ€œDefendants Motorola, Inc., Motorola Solutions, Inc., and Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. (โ€œMotorolaโ€) are hereby ordered not to disclose any of Plaintiffโ€™s confidential information to Defendants Nokia Siemens Networks US LLC and Nokia Siemens Networks B.V. (โ€œNSNโ€). 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 โ€œillegallyโ€ (in Huaweiโ€™s words) transferring Huaweiโ€™s intellectual property (IP) to NSN. NSN is lining up a US$1.2 billion acquisition of Motorolaโ€™s 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 โ€œconfidential Huawei IPโ€.

Since the July 2010 announcement by NSN of its purchase of Motorolaโ€™s 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 Motorolaโ€™s actions.

A Huawei statement said: โ€œMotorola, however, has not responded with assurances that it will prevent disclosure of that information to NSN. If Huaweiโ€™s proprietary commercial property and information is transferred to a third party, Huawei will suffer irreparable commercial damage.โ€

Huawei claims that Motorolaโ€™s failure to adopt measures sufficient to ensure that Huaweiโ€™s proprietary information remains confidential has compelled the company to file for the appropriate legal protection of its rights.