Huawei files for trademark registration of its own mobile OS after US ban

Chinese communications giant Huawei now wants to register and launch its one operating system “Hongmeng” that can replace the Android OS on their smartphones and other devices. This follows the ban imposed by the US government on Huawei that prevents the Chinese company from dealing with American companies. The ban means that millions of Huawei phones around the world cannot receive the Android OS updates and it will directly impact the company’s business. Huawei is the second largest smartphone manufacturer in the world and that position too could be in jeopardy.

The information regarding Huawei filing for trademark registration of its “Hongmeng” OS in many non-US geographies has come from a UN body. The countries being mentioned are Cambodia, Canada, South Korea and New Zealand, besides Peru and the European Union.

The US administration, however, does not appear to be in any mood to relax their ban and some senior state department officials have been quoted as saying that the Chinese company won’t be able to carry on without the support of the US companies. US may try and influence some of the friendly nations, including the European Union not to deal with Huawei.

The accusation against the Chinese company may have some connections to the Chinese government and that its software may be used for spying. The company has been denying that it has anything to do with spying for the Chinese government.

It is not as if Huawei has been very successful in obtaining the trademark registration for the “Hongmeng” OS. In the case of Peru, for example, Indecopi, the country’s antitrust agency has disclosed that it had asked for additional information on the OS from Huawei and no response has come forth for nine months.

It may well be some time before the “Hongmeng” OS gets the clearances required and their phones can be updated with the proprietary OS.