HP partners with US-blacklisted Huawei for WiFi tech licensing

HP Inc. has signed a licensing agreement with the Sisvel Wi-Fi 6 patent pool, a deal that quietly resolves patent infringement disputes with several pool members, including Huawei, the Wilus Institute of Standards and Technology, and Philips. That last name is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, given that Huawei has been on the US Commerce Department’s Entity List since May 2019 over national security concerns.

The agreement, announced on November 18, 2025, gives HP access to approximately 2,000 patents spanning 245 patent families. These patents are essential for compliance with the IEEE 802.11ax standard, the technical specification underpinning Wi-Fi 6.

How a European middleman makes it work

The Sisvel Wi-Fi 6 pool operates through an independent administrator based in Europe, and the licensing terms follow what’s known as FRAND principles: Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory.

Huawei has been a foundational member of this particular pool since July 2022. The company expressed satisfaction with the resolution of its disputes with HP, which had been litigated in US District Court in Texas. By routing the agreement through a multilateral patent pool governed by established international licensing norms, both companies sidestepped the political minefield that a direct bilateral deal would have created.

The patent pool landscape

HP now joins a roster of nearly 40 licensees in the Sisvel Wi-Fi 6 pool. The company is in familiar company: Cisco, Netgear, and Acer are among the existing members.

Patent pools consolidate negotiations into a single transaction. The licensee pays one fee, gets access to the full bundle, and avoids multi-front litigation. The Texas litigation that preceded this deal illustrates the stakes. Patent infringement cases in the Eastern District of Texas have historically been a favorite venue for patent holders seeking aggressive enforcement.

Huawei’s patent monetization strategy

While Huawei remains locked out of many direct commercial relationships with US firms, its patent portfolio continues to generate revenue through licensing. In June 2026, the company disclosed that it would charge $0.50 per consumer-grade unit for its Wi-Fi 7 patents.

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