Qualcomm is suing Transsion, maker of Tecno and Infinix smartphones, for patent infringement, but the lawsuit looks odd...

Qualcomm has filed a lawsuit against Transsion, the world's fourth-largest smartphone maker, for alleged infringement of four patents.

Here's What We Know

The move is unusual as Transsion does not use Qualcomm Snapdragon chips in its devices, preferring MediaTek and Unisoc. Transsion Holding owns popular smartphone brands such as Tecno, Itel and Infinix and has a significant market share in the budget and mid-range smartphone market.

Qualcomm usually strikes licence deals when its patents are infringed, but that won't work in this case as the holding does not buy chips from the US manufacturer. The lawsuit involves four unspecified patents and its outcome remains uncertain. Transsion could be forced to pay licence fees, which would affect their already small margins.

The lawsuit comes amid pressure from other tech giants such as Philips and Nokia, who are also demanding licence fees from Transsion for patent infringement. A Transsion spokesperson said that the company has signed a 5G patent licence agreement with Qualcomm and is honouring its obligations, which makes the lawsuit all the more bizarre.

Source: LinkedIn