Shockingly, a counterfeit factory has produced a 3-nanometer chip.

Chapter 342 A Powerful Strike!

At 3 p.m., Transsion issued another statement on its official website, just like it did with Nokia.

However, this time it wasn't so casual; they directly announced retaliatory measures.

"Transsion has always respected the intellectual property rights of others and is also strengthening its patent reserves to safeguard its own legitimate rights and interests."

Ericsson abused its market dominance in the field of standard essential patents by charging unreasonably high licensing fees, which violated the FRAND principle.

Transsion has formally reported Ericsson's monopolistic practices to the European Commission and China's antitrust enforcement agencies.

The company will also actively defend its rights in the U.S. courts.

After the statement was issued, the tech community realized that Transsion had been targeted again.

"How many times is this? Has Transsion stirred up a hornet's nest regarding patents?"

"After beating Nokia, they're now beating Ericsson; they're going to fight all the giants."

"Nokia has already collapsed, Ericsson must hold on! Don't let these evil forces continue to run rampant!"

"We support Ericsson in protecting the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises. We cannot allow such garbage companies to continue to exploit people."

While they were discussing this, the Digital Chat Station also posted a Weibo post.

"You got to hear some juicy gossip today, didn't you?"

However, as far as I know, Transsion's strategy with Ericsson this time is different from Nokia's.

Nokia had ulterior motives that time, but Ericsson didn't, and they're doing very well in the communications equipment market.

As far as I know, Transsion is currently targeting their core business.

If the three major telecom operators stop purchasing Ericsson equipment, including projects currently under bidding, Ericsson's losses will not be compensated by the hundreds of millions of dollars in patent fees awarded by the Texas court.

That's a really ruthless move.

Lazy Sheep's Assistant: "This isn't a rights protection effort, it's a precise decapitation strike. I estimate the settlement will be faster than last time."

Don't think that the three major telecom operators stopping procurement just means they're not buying equipment.

Wrong! Ericsson's equipment in China uses a large amount of customized firmware. Once the supply is cut off, all subsequent maintenance, upgrades and troubleshooting will come to a standstill.

You might think this isn't a good thing, but it's actually beneficial for Ericsson.

Just remember one thing: if Transsion dares to do this, it definitely has an alternative.

Who knows, some grey market goods might appear on the international market sometime, cheaper and with door-to-door service, and Ericsson's revenue will...

"I'm speechless. A bunch of people who don't know the law are having a blast."

Patent litigation should be resolved in court. How is using this tactic of pressuring customers any different from the administrative crackdowns of the past?

"That's right, this is unfair competition. If Transsion can use these methods to target Ericsson today, can it target other Chinese manufacturers tomorrow?"

"This one move completely ruined the reputation of Chinese manufacturers going global! Sigh..."

Of course, besides these large colonies, there were many other people in the comments section just watching the show.

After all, Ericsson's business in China has been squeezed by Huawei and ZTE, and its market share is now less than 10%.

Transsion's move simply escalated the patent war into a market war, catching Ericsson off guard and also delivering a punch to the United States.

However, Ericsson is not one to be trifled with. If it is really pushed to the limit, it might retaliate against shipping in other markets, which would be quite a show.

Anyway, all they need to do is watch the show?

This was quite a show; Ericsson's stock price immediately fell by 4% after the news broke.

Ericsson CEO Hans Werns held an emergency conference call at the company's headquarters in Stockholm to explain the situation to all investors.

"Please rest assured that Transsion's allegations have no factual basis. Our patent licensing complies with FRAND principles and can withstand any scrutiny."

However, one shareholder then asked, "If Transsion really pushes for an anti-monopoly investigation in the Chinese market, how much will their business in China be affected?"

"If the EU also initiates a case at the same time, how much will we suffer?"

Wei Hans immediately shut his mouth. The Guanghua market was worth at least $4 million, and if they got involved in the subsequent base station maintenance, that number would reach $10 billion, or even more.

Meanwhile, Shen Fei, from the Chinese market, was also reviewing the situation with Zhao Mingyuan.

"Old Zhao, do you think Ericsson will take the initiative to settle like Nokia did?"

Nokia was undergoing a transformation and couldn't afford to delay.

Ericsson's communications business is still doing quite well; will they stubbornly hold on to this position?

Shen Fei already had the answer to this question in his mind, but he still wanted to hear it.

"Boss, don't you already have the answer to this question in your heart?"

Zhao Mingyuan's answer was equally straightforward.

Ericsson is smarter than Nokia.

Although they all took the initiative to attack under the instigation of the United States, they will both keep their own accounts.

Although the Chinese market has been squeezed out considerably, it remains one of their top five markets, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in profits.

Their shareholders will not agree to them losing the Chinese market because of patent wars.

Someone will definitely push for it; reconciliation is only a matter of time.

Shen Fei smiled and said, "Since that's the case, we need to make the right gestures before we reconcile."

The EU filed a complaint, China launched an antitrust investigation, and the US courts delayed the process—they used every means at their disposal.

Then let's see what other crazy ideas netizens have given us, and use them all to show them that fighting Transsion over patents is far more costly than profitable.

Shen Fei leaned back in his chair, smiling. It seemed the legal team was still insufficient.

Not to mention the legal team on the ground sales side, even the legal team on the patent department is not enough.

After all, in the past six months, Nokia has been replaced by Ericsson, and there may be more to come.

He knew this day would come sooner or later, so he laid out relevant patents in advance, such as Motorola's patent portfolio, cross-licensing with Qualcomm, and cooperation with MediaTek.

Transsion has dug its patent moat deep enough, but the moat is not wide enough and it needs to be dug further.

"Old Zhao, how's the EU's review of the complaint materials going?"

"It's still under review, but with Secretary Zhang's intervention in China, the process has already begun."

…………

Ericsson's settlement was faster than expected. Before the materials were approved, Ericsson's chief intellectual property expert, Gustavo, and two American lawyers arrived.

In Gustavo, the moment the papers were signed, both lawyers took a copy, and the meeting ended in less than 10 minutes.

The terms are confidential, but both parties have a general idea of ​​what they mean.

Transsion paid a licensing fee as required, an amount far lower than Ericsson's initial asking price, and even lower than the normal market rate.

Ericsson has withdrawn all litigation commitments and will not file new patent lawsuits globally.

Both parties withdrew their antitrust complaints in the EU and France simultaneously, wiping the slate clean.

Ericsson also had to pay Transsion related patent fees, and the final price was a little higher than they had expected.