U.S. Senator Marco Rubio introduced a bill Monday to prevent China Huawei Technologies Ltd. from seeking damages in U.S. courts. Huawei had previously asked Verizon Communications (VZ.N), an American operator, to pay a patent licensing fee of $1 billion.
According to the amendment seen by Reuters, companies on the U.S. government's specific watch list, including Huawei, will not be allowed to seek relief under U.S. patent laws, including legal action against patent infringement.
On June 12, a person who heard the briefing said that Huawei had told Weixin that it should pay more than 230 Huawei patent licensing fees, totaling more than $1 billion.
This seems to be Huawei's new strategy in the ongoing battle against the U.S. government. U.S. national security experts worry that the "back door" on Huawei routers, switches and other devices may lead China to monitor U.S. communications. Huawei denied helping the Chinese government engage in espionage.
Rubio, one of the Republicans'main voices in foreign policy, included the above measures in the amendments to the annual Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). NDAA is a large-scale bill that sets policy for the Department of Defense spending.
Although the measure is still several steps away from becoming law, U.S. lawmakers have successfully used NDAA to crack down on Huawei in the past few years.
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