China's Huawei and HP Inc. announced the signing of a multiyear global patent cross-licensing agreement covering patents related to Wi-Fi technology, including the latest Wi-Fi 7 standard. According to reports from Reuters, the deal provides both companies access to each other's patents, with HP gaining the right to use Huawei's Wi-Fi patents in its computers and peripherals. Under the reciprocal arrangement, HP will likewise make its own patents available to Huawei. Steven Geiszler, who led the negotiations on Huawei's behalf, stated that "We have successfully licensed Huawei's patents in standardized Wi-Fi technology while also securing HP's valuable patent rights." The agreement represents Huawei's continued expansion beyond telecom equipment and smartphones into the global information technology market, demonstrating adoption of Huawei technology outside China despite US restrictions.
The agreement comes against the backdrop of years of US restrictions on Huawei that have been in place since 2019. As reported by Reuters, despite facing restrictions on its advanced semiconductor and telecom equipment businesses due to US sanctions, Huawei has been steadily signing licensing agreements with global corporations in international standards technology areas such as Wi-Fi and 5G. The restrictions have limited Huawei's ability to buy advanced semiconductors and crucial software, but do not automatically bar patent-licensing agreements. HP, based in Palo Alto, California, was the world's second-largest PC maker with a 21.3% market share according to Gartner data. The deal represents a significant sign of adoption of Huawei's technology outside China, despite the US blacklisting the company from working with American suppliers such as Google.
The agreement follows a lawsuit Huawei filed against HP at Europe's Unified Patent Court in August 2025, accusing the US company of using a Wi-Fi 6 patent without permission, according to Reuters. HP joined the Sisvel Wi-Fi 6 patent pool in November 2025, ending legal actions against it by Huawei and Philips. The pool gives companies access through a single agreement to about 2,000 patents considered necessary for Wi-Fi 6 products. HP characterized the deal as a standard-essential patent license covering Wi-Fi technology, similar to agreements common in the industry. An HP spokesperson stated, "This is a standard-essential patent licence covering Wi-Fi technology, it is not new, and does not represent a broader strategic or commercial relationship, partnership, or collaboration with Huawei." Standard-essential patents cover inventions that companies may need to use in order to make products compatible with an industry standard, such as Wi-Fi.
Huawei's Wi-Fi patented technology is used in more than 1.6 billion consumer electronic devices as of the end of 2025, excluding smartphones, according to Reuters. In the past 12 months alone, the company has added 25 new Wi-Fi patent licensees, 11 of which are Fortune Global 500 companies. Patent analytics firm GreyB assessed that Huawei has secured more than 600 patent families related to Wi-Fi 7, ahead of Qualcomm and Intel. The company contributed to the development of key features such as Multi-Link Operation (MLO) for Wi-Fi 7, which builds on Wi-Fi 6 to deliver higher throughput, lower latency, and more stable connections. Huawei currently holds more than 165,000 valid registered patents worldwide, with over 30,000 cumulative patents in the United States, more than 20,000 in Europe, and over 55,000 patents in China.
Alan Fan, Huawei's Chief Intellectual Property Officer, expressed satisfaction with the agreement, stating that "Huawei is pleased to reach this patent cross-licensing agreement with HP Inc. This agreement is a strong testament to Huawei's persistent independent innovation in cutting-edge fields in Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Through patent licensing, Huawei shares its innovation with the industry, particularly in the area of standardized technologies, which brings leading technological experiences to consumers worldwide." As reported by Reuters, Fan emphasized that "this milestone agreement not only reflects the companies' cooperation in the field of intellectual property licensing but also recognizes Huawei's innovation capabilities and core technological strength as well as HP's position as a global leader in computers and peripheral equipment." The agreement demonstrates that Huawei remains an important holder of patents used in global wireless standards despite US restrictions requiring US carriers to remove their equipment from US networks.
Patent agreements with global companies are growing rapidly for Huawei, which has signed patent licensing or cross-licensing agreements with Amazon, Nokia, Samsung Electronics, Ericsson, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, Sharp, and others. According to Reuters, the company has now concluded more than 260 patent licensing agreements with major ICT companies in the United States, Europe, Japan, and South Korea, with 34 new agreements last year, 22 of which were with Fortune Global 500 companies. Behind Huawei's aggressive push for patent openness lies a strategy to convert its massive R&D investment back into revenue. The company disclosed a royalty rate of $0.50 per unit for Wi-Fi 7 consumer products, keeping it at the same level as Wi-Fi 6, offering a predictable cost structure to attract more manufacturers into its patent ecosystem.
