ZTE hits back at Huwei with patent suit

Within a day of Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei initiating patent infringement proceedings against local rival ZTE, the latter has hit back with a similar announcement.

In a tit-for-tat move, ZTE has now filed a suit claiming patent infringements over its fourth generation LTE technology in China, according to the company's statement.

The ZTE suit, just like that of Huawei's yesterday calls for Huawei ceasing its use of offending technologies.

The firm would also initiate legal action globally to protect its intellectual property. Though both companies are China-based, they have far reaching telecommunications businesses across the world.

Both companies have a strong presence in intellectual property across 2G, 3G and 4G technologies, with high-quality patented global deployments. However, according to analysts, both companies seem to be happy to accuse each other of lacking a moral code.

According to patent experts, the swift response by ZTE indicates that the two companies were ready to engage in a long drawn battle.