Euronews: ZTE Gets One Over Huawei

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., ZTE Corp., Google and KPN Telecom NV are mixing it in today's snapshot of the EMEA headlines.

A court in Germany has dismissed all of Huawei's claims against ZTE in the litigation over patent EP 2 033 335 (EP’335), which relates to mobile base stations and end-user devices. In a case relating to a separate patent with another long number, the court decided to refer it to the European Court of Justice. (See ZTE & Huawei in IPR Charm Offensive and More Bother for Huawei, ZTE.)

A gaggle of big online names, TripAdvisor and Expedia among them, have written an open letter to the European Commission urging it to take a tougher line with Google over alleged manipulation of search rankings, reports Telecompaper (subscription required).

Dutch incumbent KPN has shaved some more off its debt pile by selling US$600 million worth of hybrid bonds, reports Reuters.

Saudi Telecom Co. (STC)'s mobile affiliate, Viva Kuwait, has made a profit for the first time in its four-year existence, reports Arabian Business. The operator notched up 3.9 million dinars ($13.69 million) of net profits in 2012, and saw its customer base rise 60 percent to 1.6 million. — Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading