The agreement, announced by Huawei on Wednesday, allows HP to use Huawei’s patented wireless technologies while Huawei will similarly gain access to patents held by HP. The two companies did not disclose the financial terms of the arrangement.
Huawei also did not provide details about the specific patents it would receive from HP under the agreement.
HP, however, sought to play down any suggestion that the deal marked the beginning of a broader relationship between the two technology companies.
“This is a standard-essential patent licence covering Wi-Fi technology,” an HP spokesperson said. “It is not new, and does not represent a broader strategic or commercial relationship, partnership, or collaboration with Huawei.”
Deal Covers Essential Wi-Fi Patents
Standard-essential patents are inventions that manufacturers may be required to use to ensure their products comply with established industry standards and remain compatible with other devices.
Such licensing arrangements are common across the technology industry, particularly among manufacturers of computers, smartphones, printers, routers and other products that rely on wireless connectivity.
The agreement nevertheless highlights Huawei’s continuing importance in the development of global wireless technology standards, despite years of restrictions imposed on the Chinese company by the United States.
Washington has taken a series of measures against Huawei since 2019, limiting its access to certain US-origin technologies and advanced semiconductors. The restrictions have significantly affected the company’s ability to source some sophisticated chips and critical software.
However, the US restrictions do not automatically prevent Huawei from entering into patent-licensing agreements with American companies.
Agreement Follows Patent Dispute
The Huawei-HP deal also follows a legal dispute between the two companies over Wi-Fi technology.
According to intellectual-property publication IAM, Huawei filed a lawsuit against HP at Europe’s Unified Patent Court in August 2025, alleging that the US company had used one of Huawei’s Wi-Fi 6 patents without authorisation.
HP subsequently joined the Sisvel Wi-Fi 6 patent pool in November 2025, a move that brought an end to legal actions against the company by Huawei and Philips.
The Sisvel pool provides companies with access to around 2,000 patents regarded as essential to the implementation of Wi-Fi 6 through a single licensing arrangement.
Huawei said, however, that the new direct agreement with HP covers a broader range of its Wi-Fi patents and extends beyond Wi-Fi 6 to include Wi-Fi 7 technology.
Huawei Expands Patent Licensing Business
The agreement forms part of Huawei’s broader effort to expand its intellectual-property and patent-licensing business as the company navigates restrictions on its access to advanced Western technology.
Huawei has in recent years increased its focus on monetising its extensive patent portfolio and has reached licensing settlements with several major technology companies, including Amazon.
The Chinese technology giant has said it is among the leading holders of patents required to implement Wi-Fi 6, the previous generation of the wireless connectivity standard.
Huawei has set a royalty rate of 50 cents for each consumer electronic device using its Wi-Fi 6 technology.
The company said more than 1.6 billion consumer electronic devices, excluding mobile phones, had incorporated inventions related to its Wi-Fi technology by the end of 2025.
The expansion into Wi-Fi 7 licensing could further strengthen Huawei’s position as wireless connectivity technology becomes increasingly important across personal computers, smart-home devices, industrial equipment and other connected products.
Huawei Remains Under US Restrictions
Huawei has remained subject to US trade restrictions since 2019, when Washington placed the company on a trade blacklist that generally requires suppliers to obtain government approval before providing certain US-origin technologies to the Chinese firm.
The restrictions have constrained Huawei’s ability to obtain advanced semiconductors and critical software, forcing the company to develop alternative technologies and strengthen domestic supply chains.
Patent licensing, however, operates under a different framework and can allow companies to continue accessing intellectual property even amid broader technology restrictions.
The latest agreement therefore illustrates a more complex aspect of the US-China technology rivalry: while governments have increasingly restricted the transfer of sensitive technologies, intellectual-property licensing continues to provide a channel through which major companies can access technologies necessary to comply with global standards.
HP Maintains Strong Position in PC Market
For HP, the agreement provides access to Huawei’s patented Wi-Fi technologies that are relevant to its broad portfolio of connected computing products.
Based in Palo Alto, California, HP was the world’s second-largest personal computer maker, accounting for 21.3 per cent of the global PC market, according to Gartner data.
The deal is therefore significant not because it establishes a new commercial partnership between HP and Huawei, but because it reflects the importance of patent licensing in an industry where manufacturers must ensure their products remain compatible with rapidly evolving global technology standards.
As Wi-Fi 7 adoption expands, access to essential patents is likely to become increasingly important for computer and consumer-electronics manufacturers seeking to deploy the new standard without exposing themselves to further intellectual-property disputes.