InterDigital vows cooperation in China's anti-trust probe

BEIJING - US patent licensing company InterDigital Inc has promised to work with China's anti-trust authorities in the hope that the latter will suspend its ongoing investigation into the firm.

The anti-monopoly bureau under the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) confirmed on Monday that it has received a commitments request from InterDigital that could form the predicate for the suspension of the anti-monopoly investigation.

The NDRC said it will further study the case before making any decisions.

InterDigital has allegedly charged Chinese telecom firms like Huawei and ZTE higher patent royalty rates than it got from Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics. It is also suspected of using unfair trade practices to force Chinese companies to accept the offer.

In October last year, a court in south China's Guangdong province ordered InterDigital to pay Huawei 20 million yuan ($3.28 million) in compensation for monopolistic practices.

On the excuse of fearing its officials being detained or arrested, InterDigital at one point refused to come to China in response to the investigation, before finally attending a meeting with NDRC officials last month, an occasion on which the two sides clarified their stances.

InterDigital said it will continue to cooperate with the investigation and work with the NDRC to resolve any remaining concerns.

Under China's anti-monopoly laws, fines for a company found violating the rules and refusing to cooperate range from 1 percent to 10 percent of its total revenue in the previous year.