ZTE hits back at Huawei's preliminary injunction victory

ZTE has claimed that the preliminary injunction awarded to Huawei regarding alleged trademark infringement will have no impact on its business, as the bitter legal dispute between the Chinese firms rumbles on.

Huawei was awarded a preliminary injunction on Wednesday, but ZTE has hit back by stating that the matter is far from resolved.

"This action is only a temporary relief measure, and ultimately the judgement whether an infringement has occurred is still pending a final court decision," a ZTE spokesperson said in a statement.

"Should the court find ZTE 'not guilty', Huawei will have to bear all the losses thus incurred. ZTE has not yet received any formal notice of litigation from Huawei."

ZTE claimed that it stopped using the trademark at the centre of the dispute in July 2009, 10 months before Huawei was granted registration.

"Obviously, Huawei intended to use the trademark right that it acquired on 27 May 2010 [and] sue ZTE for using the logo before 14 July 2009. This is beyond the bounds of normal technology, marketing and legal litigation processes," ZTE said.

"ZTE's determination to explore the European market will not be impeded by this or any such action. The preliminary injunction will not impact ZTE's business."

The manufacturer has also taken exception to Huawei's registering the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) logo as a trademark. ZTE said that it has applied to the European Union for revocation to "protect the interest of ZTE and the wider telecoms industry".

"RoHS is the European Union's environmental certification, developed by the EU legislation as a mandatory standard. It is not an enterprise's 'dedicated' environmental identity, and therefore cannot be used as the logo of a company's product," the spokesperson added.

"This is like having a minor graphic design around the words ‘energy saving', and using it as a trademark for household appliances. There is a clear lack of legitimacy."

The battle between the firms was triggered when Huawei alleged that ZTE had infringed its LTE and data card systems patents. ZTE countered with a lawsuit claiming that Huawei had infringed its LTE systems patents.