Huawei Technologies wins first round in Motorola trade dispute

Huawei Technologies Co won a temporary court order barring Motorola from disclosing any confidential Huawei information to rival Nokia Siemens Networks.
Huawei sued Monday to block a proposed Motorola business unit sale to Nokia Siemens Networks, demanding that the $1.2 billion transaction be altered to avoid the transfer of trade secrets or the infringement of intellectual property rights.
The defendants include Motorola Solutions Inc, holding the network equipment unit being sold; and Motorola Mobility, which makes phones and set-top boxes and holds Huawei intellectual property related to network technology.
Motorola's GSM business represented about 35 percent of an estimated $3.65 billion 2010 revenue for the networks business, according to Avian Securities analyst Matthew Thornton.
Motorola declined comment and a Huawei spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
In her order dated Monday, US District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman in Chicago told the defendants to give the court notice of any actions being taken by China's antitrust regulator, which is currently reviewing Nokia Siemens' proposed purchase of the Motorola assets.
Nokia Siemens has said that the China review had delayed the closing of the deal, which is expected this quarter.
The judge also ordered Huawei and the Motorola defendants to propose a protective order within 24 hours.
Nokia Siemens is a venture of Finland's Nokia Oyj and Germany's Siemens AG.