Huawei faces additional investigation by US authorities over new intellectual property theft allegations

Huawei accused of systematic intellectual property theft practices going back years

Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei is facing a new investigation in the US over the alleged theft of intellectual property.

That's according to the Wall Street Journal, which claims that the US prosecutors are currently examining several instances in which Huawei has been accused of stealing intellectual property from multiple companies and individuals over several years.

It has also been accused of targeting recruitment of employees from rivals for the purpose of purloining intellectual property.

In one alleged episode, Huawei was accused by Rui Oliveira, a multimedia firm based in Portugal, of stealing its smartphone camera technology. In response, Huawei sued Rui Oliveira and denied, in court papers, any patent infringement on its part.

Oliveira had, in 2014, proposed a deal assigning manufacturing rights to Huawei.

In another 10-count indictment, revealed earlier this year, Huawei was accused of stealing trade secrets from T-Mobile and offering rewards to employees who stole confidential technology from competitors.

However, Huawei denied all charges levelled against it at the time. "We respect the integrity of intellectual property rights - for our own business, as well as peer, partner and competitor companies," the company said.

The latest allegations against Huawei follows on from its inclusion, in May, on the "Entity List" of the US Commerce Department. This bars the company from purchasing products and technologies with US content without prior approval.

Enforcement has twice been suspended for 90 days, with the new deadline in mid-November. The Department of Commerce claims to have more than 130 licences from Huawei suppliers seeking a licence to continue selling components - but has yet to issue a single one.

The latest inquiries into Huawei suggest that the US government is now probing those aspects of Huawei's business practices that were not covered in indictments against the firm issued earlier this year.

In January, the US Justice Department filed criminal charges against Huawei and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, for violating US sanctions on Iran by doing trade with the country through hidden subsidiaries.

Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Canada in December last year in connection with the case. She is currently out on bail and faces extradition to the US to face charges