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Response 6: DonovanThere are several ways that the Huawei lawsuit, and quite frankly, the company’s very public
actions impact IP from a global perspective. First, it is important to establish what experts think,
in regards to Huawei’s claims that it would refuse the chinese government’s request for
assistance. According to CNBC, China’s National Intelligence law from 2017 demands its
country to cooperate with state-intelligence work. Speaking on the issue, Jerome Cohen, an NYU
law professor and Council on Foreign Relations adjunct senior fellow, said, “There is no way
Huawei can resist any order from the [People’s Republic of China] Government or the Chinese
Communist Party to do its bidding in any context, commercial or otherwise. Huawei would have
to turn over all requested data and perform whatever other surveillance activities are required.”
With that said, I think it is fair to question if other chinese tech companies are at risk of being
compromised. Look at OnePlus, for example, which is a chinese phone manufacturer that is
owned by BBK Electronics—a chinese multinational firm. According to pandaily, “OnePlus
finished as a top 4 smartphone brand in the US in the premium segment and in Q2 2019 they
were the fastest growing smartphone brand in the US, growing 152% compared to the previous
year.” Besides the US, OnePlus also has a 42% market share in India. Hence, if the People’s
Republic of China wants Huawei to spy on the US or other countries, why should we not think
they would expect any less of other big tech companies? And even if that is not the case, there is
still a ridiculous level of paranoia that is justifiable because of Huawei’s actions, especially when
you consider the fact that the digital era makes IP theft that much easier.
Furthermore, I also think it is important to remember a key lesson that we learned during our
Module one lessons: the law does not treat everyone fairly. Therefore, is Huawei more at risk of
being infringed upon? Verizon, which is accused of stealing 12 patents from Huawei, responded
by labeling Huawei’s actions a PR stunt, saying, “This lawsuit is a sneak attack on our company
and our nation. The action lacks merit, and we look forward to vigorously defending our
company and our nation.” Now, while this statement may not directly say it, it is more than fair
to infer that Verizon is implying that this is an us against them issue, referring to our country’s
issues with China, especially when you consider that they called this a sneak attack on our
nation. In regards to a global perspective, I worry that the US government may be biased towards
Huawei and unable to separate the company’s espionage issues with this patent infringement
case. Moreover, I want to make clear that I am not defending Huawei, I am just questioning if
the company is more vulnerable to mistreatment because of the scandals it is associated with.
When it comes to impacting international policy, patents could become more expensive to use.
Last June, CNBC reported that Huawei could demand more royalties from US firms over
patented tech they are using; Huawei owns more than 69,000 patents ranging from data
transmission to network traffic management. When explaining why Huawei could be charging
more, writer Arjun Kharpal stressed, “Huawei has not been particularly aggressive in bringing
legal action against companies with regard to intellectual property. However, the thinking within
the company could be changing given the continued political pressure…” Because of its troubles
with the US, Huawei could take a $30 billion hit in its revenue.
Furthermore, it is also important to consider the altering perception of the US and our country’s
use of international intellectual property. Besides the Verizon case, there have been other
instances where other American companies have faced disputes with foreign co’s, like the
controversies between Apple and Nokia—Nokia accused Apple of violating 32 of its tech
patents. With this said, I question if the US could be painted as the antagonist in its cold war with
China, especially since we are being accused of similar actions by other countries (not espionage
though). Moreover, there is global hesitance by our allies to take a stance against China—as the
economic implications would be too detrimental. As writer Urie Friedman put it, “ For these
countries [US allies like the UK], the benefits of partnering with Huawei—the dominant player
in the global 5G market, and also the cheapest because of Chinese government subsidies—are
obvious while the costs are more opaque, if no less real.”
Additionally, we must question who is really getting hurt by these rising tensions between the
US and China. Back in October 2019, President Trump blacklisted 28 chinese tech companies in
a move to protect our national security. Yet, according to writer Kate Fazzini, this “will create
divides with commerce organizations focused on free trade and likely create further disruptions
in the ongoing trade negotiations between the Trump administration and Chinese president Xi
Jinping.” Moreover, in a piece I wrote for Yahoo Finance last summer, I put an emphasis on
what Intel CEO Bob Swan said of the company’s relationship with Huawei, who’s quoted as
saying, “Currently the U.S. export-control laws impede our ability to do some things, and we
have to abide by that. So it has impacts on us… Most importantly for us as a company and as an
industry, the semiconductor industry, we believe strongly in open global and fair trade and we
advocate for that the best we can along the way.” In short, the rising tensions between the US
and China interferes with our country’s ability to innovate and strains domestic companies’
relationships with China.
When it comes to the roles and responsibilities of each country and company, I think both
countries (the US and China) are looking to protect their respective national securities
(regardless of how unethical things get in the process). China is specifically looking to keep up
with international competition, as Huawei and Apple are neck and neck for being the number
two phone carrier in the world. Maybe China’s IP theft is with the intent of keeping Huawei
ahead of Apple. And maybe the blacklisting of chinese companies, like Huawei, is how the US
comes out on top—as mentioned earlier, Huawei will lose $30 billion in revenue because of
being blacklisted. The point that needs to be made here is that both countries are doing what they
think is in the best interest of their people and domestic economies, and part of me questions if
Huawei was forced into this cold war without a choice—which does not excuse the company of
any wrongdoing, but how can we not discuss this factor when evaluating this situation?
Now, before I conclude, I think it is important to discuss the social aspects of this problem—as I
already mentioned the economic and political ramifications that this causes. To put it bluntly, I
worry about heightened risks of xenophobia for chinese immigrants and chinese americans that
are looking for opportunities within the United States. Especially when you consider people
like Jizhong Chen, who was an Apple employee charged with IP theft of over 2,000 files, who
was planning to go work for a chinese autonomous vehicle company. Will innocent professionals
have trouble finding work? Will they face unfair prejudice? And what about tech companies? Do
they not have a right to question chinese citizens who want to work for them—1 in 5 companies
believe China stole their IP in 2019—especially when you consider the actions of Chen and
several others that are damaging US businesses?
In short, this is a delicate issue that heightens paranoia, racism, and compromises the growth of
our global economy, but for justifiable reasons.
Response 7 (Fisherman)
Safely said, Huawei isn’t currently under the global spotlight for a newly released device.
They are battling lawsuits on all sides against both private companies like Verizon and the
US government. Huawei is one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies. Its
technology powers networks in more than 170 countries and is also the second largest seller
of smartphones globally behind Samsung. The United States government has charged the
Chinese company with running a campaign to steal trade secrets from American businesses
and could be used to spy on behalf of the Chinese government. The New York Times reports:
“In a federal indictment unsealed on Thursday in the Eastern District of New York, the
Department of Justice accused Huawei and its affiliates of a “pattern of racketeering
activity” and said the companies had worked to steal trade secrets from six American firms.
The stolen information included source code, as well as the manuals for wireless technology.
The indictment did not identify the six companies, but a source familiar with the
investigation — as well as court filings made in several civil lawsuits — indicated they were
Cisco Systems, Motorola Solutions, Fujitsu, Quintel Technology, T-Mobile and CNEX
Labs.”
In an article released by the South China Morning Post, they quote Song Liuping, Huawei’s
chief legal officer. “No court has ever concluded that the world’s largest telecoms gear maker
has engaged in IP theft and the company has never had to pay damages in this area. If
politicians use IP as a political tool, they will destroy confidence in the patent protection
system.”
The US government also put a ban on sales of Huawei products in the United States. They
are afraid that Huawei is giving intel to the Chinese government. In an article
by CNBC titled: “Huawei says it would never hand data to China’s government. Experts say
it wouldn’t have a choice”, it explains that if Beijing asked for it, Huawei must hand over the
network data to the Chinese government because of espionage and national security laws in
the country. That can potentially jeopardize the security of our entire country. As The
Verge explains, this ban also includes the loss of access to Google and it’s sideload apps like
Gmail and YouTube from being installed onto Huawei devices. Tristan Ostrowski, legal
director for Android and Google Play, wrote in a post: “Google is prohibited from working
with Huawei on new device models or providing Google’s apps including Gmail, Maps,
YouTube, the Play Store and others for preload or download on these devices.”
However, you can still purchase Huawei’s P30 Pro in America online via Amazon or B&H
Photo. CNET explains some important pros and cons of the phone being used in America,
and for purchasing packages through Amazon or B&H Photo.
This affects the trade of all products between the US and China. Investopedia explains that
this ban will also blacklist all purchases from U.S. companies unless they have explicit
government permission. “On May 15, President Trump issued an executive order banning
all U.S. companies from utilizing information and communications technology from any
party considered a national security threat. The order also declared a national emergency
related to this matter. Although the order did not explicitly mention Huawei, it was largely
seen as being focused on the Chinese company. The U.S. Commerce Department also added
Huawei and 70 of its affiliates to its existing “Entity List.” This blacklist bars anyone on it
from purchasing parts and components from U.S. companies unless they have prior
government approval.”
Several other countries including Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and the U.K. have
taken actions to ban Huawei and ZTE (another Chinese telecommunications company) from
their 5G networks at least as a safety precaution. I feel that other countries are waiting to see
how things “play out” with China and the US.
There are many potential outcomes. These are the two extremes: the US bans Huawei
products indefinitely, or China somehow assures the US and other countries that they are
not receiving data from Huawei and ZTE. In my opinion, the US and other countries will
proceed with caution, and eventually get back to a trade agreement. For the sake of each
countries security they must protect themselves and not allow China to infiltrate. Only time
will tell how everything develops. In more recent events, CNN reports that the US
intelligence and national security officials say the United States government is looking into
the possibility that the deadly Covid-19 virus spread from a laboratory in China rather than
a market. This pandemic will be a major setback in potentially easing up the trade war
between the US and China, which will therefore automatically take a toll on the global
economy.
Response 8 (Trobojon)
Huawei
Huawei is the world’s largest telecommunications company, and its close relation with
Chinese government is allowing them to grow at a rapid rate, but this very same relationship
is making international suspicion grow with it. The company, which own over 1500 5grelated patents, has been under severe scrutiny the past few years, with the company being
caught in a lawsuit with the United States Department of Justice, while simultaneously
suing the telecom giant Verizon.
How will this lawsuit affect IP rights from a global perspective?
After Huawei’s lawsuit against Verizon, claiming that they used 12 patents owned by
Huawei without authorization, the United States government has taken action to protect
American companies against such actions. After having banned Huawei access to American
hi-tech suppliers, “Senator Marco Rubio also filed legislation that aimed to prevent Huawei
from seeking damages in US patent courts” according to South China Morning Post. Huawei’s
chief legal officer, Song Liuping, responded to the move by saying “If politicians use IP as a
political tool, they will destroy confidence in the patent protection system” in a press
conference. I believe this would have a significant effect on IP rights, as well as innovation
from a global perspective. For telecommunications and many other tech industries, which
rely heavily on innovation and patents, governments selectively deciding which companies
are subject to IP laws and not, could prove detrimental for many businesses.
A potential solution could be that the World Trade Organization, which already has
the TRIPS agreement could be the solution to help solving these kinds of problems. As trade
and innovation is mostly global, an international organization that can supervise and
potentially create rules to ensure that patents and legal procedures are followed fairly could
be one way to go forward. Thus, I can imagine that international governance can become
strengthened in a future that is more and more dependent on technology, security and
communication systems.
How might these disputes affect international policy?
As we are already seeing with the restrictions on Huawei setting up their networks in
the United States, these disputes are likely to affect other companies’ ability to operate in
other countries than their home country. The China-U.S. relationship is especially in a state
of tension, and I would personally not be surprised if bans on other technology and
intelligence companies would follow. Of course, naturally the United States would be more
inclined to impose these restrictions, as vague Chinese intelligence laws could enable the
Chinese government to access information obtained by Huawei that would otherwise be
kept privately in the company.
What is the role/responsibility of other countries when it comes to dealing with
Huawei?
One can argue that it is the role or responsibility of other countries to follow the
United States in banning companies using Huawei networking equipment, and effectively
from U.S. communications network. However, as of now Huawei has not been found guilty
of any of the accusations from the U.S. Department of Justice, so even if the United States
actually are right in their allegations, they technically do not have any leverage to convince
or force other countries to take the same measures. I will, however, mention that the U.S.
government have expressed their intent to use information that was “obtained or
derived from electronic surveillance and physical search”, so we might see some evidence
soon.
Of course, the wisest thing that the U.S. could do is to share what they know about
Huawei with the governments that are currently letting the company set up 5g networks in
their own countries, such as the United Kingdom, although still in restricted zones.
Huawei obviously has a competitive advantage and is able to set up superior networks
to those that other countries can, and thus their product (service really) is so desired, and
for many countries it probably will be, regardless of these allegations from the United
States. I believe that many countries will let Huawei set up the 5g in their countries, simply
because they cannot provide this themselves, and will not let the political issues
surrounding the company stop them. However, I do believe that these countries will be wary
about the circumstances, and will act swiftly were some undesired instances to happen.
Response 9 (Dicataldo)
How will this lawsuit affect Intellectual Property rights from a global
perspective?
There is a global race to 5G going on right now. Every country wants to build out robust
networks that will propel their economies into the future. There is massive competition to
get the best network out in the fastest way possible so that the country is in a prime position
of strength to compete in the global marketplace. Due to the fact that there is so much at
stake, it is not surprising that there are companies out there who will cheat to get ahead.
Huawei, specifically, has had an extremely checkered past when it comes to intellectual
property violations. They also operate in a country that is very different from ours. China is
fully controlled by the government, who has a vested interest in having their technology
spread around to as much of the world as possible. They subsidize Huawei and its products
in order to make sure that they are the cheapest so their networks reach as many countries as
possible. This gives them power to continue doing what they have been doing for years, take
more intellectual property from countries even easier. They can also use it to gain security
secrets from countries that they have access to. Cyber warfare has been heating up in the past
few years with China, Russia, North Korea and Iran all trying to disrupt the U.S. and are
even teaming up to do it.
Huawei can make as many public comments as they would like about how they will not build
backdoors and the government has no control over them but that simply isn’t true. There are
laws in place that would force Huawei to give up any information that the Chinese
government requests and there is nothing they can do about it. The Chinese government has
made it very clear their directives to become the global superpower and to knock off the U.S.
with programs like Made in China 2025. While these goals are good for the country to have,
the way they go about getting to these goals is what becomes an issue. I can only imagine
what the government will do with the power they will possess with so much of the world’s
5G networks built off their technology. There is a reason we forbid any business with them in
this country.
How might these disputes affect international policy?
China is a known frequent and deliberate abuser of intellectual property from foreign
countries. They have been doing it for years and have no intentions of stopping anytime
soon. Due to the practices of Chinese companies and the government, it is no surprise that
the United States and other countries would be skeptical of any public comments from
Huawei reassuring that they are not going to abuse their opportunity to use their position for
misappropriation. Disputes like this are currently affecting a lot of international policy.
They play into the larger trade war that is currently going on, with a phase one deal reached
back in January. A lot of emphasis on phase one was brokering a deal with China has to do
with intellectual property rights being respected. Now in the midst of a global pandemic,
where China intentionally withheld information on the virus, it will change the way the world
does business forever. As much as the trade war began the change of business with China,
globalization will probably look much different once we are able to get past this virus.
What is the role/responsibility of other countries when it comes to dealing with
Huawei?
Obviously, all countries need to make their own determinations when it comes to whether
or not they feel comfortable doing business with Huawei. The United States’ stance is very
clear and they have made it very clear to their allies what they expect of them as well. On the
surface it may seem like we have an issue with using Chinese technology or that it is
somehow politically charged but this ban is supported by both sides of the aisle and the long
history of Chinese intellectual property theft show why the concern is valid. It is easy to
understand why other countries would use Huawei’s technology to build their network
infrastructures due to the fact that they are cheap and reliable, it is just a shame that they
need to steal from other companies in order to create their products. They have the
advantage of having government subsidies in order to offer the cheapest products as the
government has a vested interest in having Huawei’s network in as much of the world as
possible. It would make sense for the poorer countries to immediately jump on the
opportunity. The race to become 5G ready is also helping out Huawei as countries are
looking to have their networks up and running fast so there may be less time to vet who they
want to use as a supplier.
Summary
From an economic standpoint, China has not been shy about their goals to be the world’s
largest economy, including programs like Made in China 2025, and they have shown
tendencies to do whatever it takes to get there. Socially, they are not trusted based on past
behavior of stealing company’s information for their gain. Politically, they are very different
due to being a Communist country with top down leadership, where rules are dictated down
to the people along with a very poor history of human rights violations, including their
recent dealings with Hong Kong. I believe the outcome of this ongoing battle with Huawei
will remain as it is, with them not being allow to do business in the U.S. and especially not
being allowed to be any part of the building of the 5G networks in this country. This topic
leads into the greater trade war that is still going on which sought to address concerns about
intellectual property when the phase one agreement was signed.
Response 10 Alvin
Huawei is the largest vendor in the world for telecommunications equipment and products.
Based in China, Huawei is the second biggest smartphone creator and has the world’s
biggest market share in making of 5G phones. However, Huawei faced criticisms due to
allegations of Chinese government espionage and bank and wire fraud.
The United States government has strengthened their charges against Huawei as there have
been issues surrounding the theft of intellectual property and trade secrets. It seems as if
Huawei as a whole is in fact a criminal enterprise. Huawei has been facing 23 charges of
bank fraud, obstruction of justice, technology theft, amongst others. According to
TechRadar, Huawei denied allegations of wrongdoing, rejected all claims, and have blamed
rogue elements within the organization as the cause of the theft. A new article released 8
hours ago on Forbes has stated that Huawei warned that 2020 would be “its toughest year
yet.”
With the coronavirus currently looming, we can see how the dispute is affecting
international policy. Current U.S sanctions is forcing a reversal of Huawei’s possible
international integration within global technology. Two years ago, Huawei had the
possibility of becoming more international with their tech but the politics of coronavirus
and the attitude that western countries are now engaging in is causing their international
hopes to dwindle. Disputes like this within the US is even influencing other countries to
limit ties with China and thus Hawaii. According to Bloomberg, UK’s Prime Minister had a
plan to let Huawei Technologies build and support 5G networks. However, there has now
been opposition to Huawei being involved in UK’s 5G infrastructure due to rebellion
regarding the equipment. Many believe that Huawei has equipment that can enable spying
causing security risks within the country.
The US seems to be in agreement with this as American companies can no longer supply the
company. President Trump believes that Huawei is a threat to national security disallowing
them to work with American companies in an executive order banning them from US
communications networks. Google had to pull their software and services from Huawei’s Mate
30 due to the US blacklisting. It seems as if these disputes coupled with political turmoil is
heavily affecting international policy.
Other countries have been following America’s lead as we’ve seen with UK. It doesn’t seem
that business will be as usual for Huawei after the coronavirus as there already has been a
decline in international revenue. The responsibility of other countries when it comes to
dealing with Huawei is simply understanding how current knowledge can affect their
country and people economically, socially, and politically as things progress. I took a look at
a list of countries and companies and their relation with Huawei Technologies to determine
the consensus on what various countries are thinking. It looks as of right now many
countries are still in belief that Huawei is a good choice for 5G projects with some countries
already confirming this choice. The founder of the company has come out after vanishing
from the public eye to dismiss the U.S.’ accusations. In addition, after Huawei stated they
are willing to sign “no-spy” agreements, I believe that companies are feeling much more
comfortable as a result of this. In essence, each country has to weigh the pros and cons of
the technology based on their own due diligence. They’ve heard both sides and have
evidence from US and China and are capable of making their decisions for their economy
and people. It seems as if most companies and countries are vigilant due to the current state
of affairs surrounding COVID-19.
Ultimately, based on the research, the two potential outcomes I see is the US gets
reassurance from Huawei’s products and lifts the sanctions or continue with the sanctions
and completely outlaw their entrance within the US. It seems as if US is leaning towards the
latter due to the lawsuit against them. The US is protecting their intellectual property and
has every right to do so. Globally, it’s up to each individual country to determine the best
moves to take. It’s essential for the US to protect their own interests and people based on
the due diligence performed by US leaders.
