Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) still aims to close its proposed acquisition of most of Motorola’s network equipment business in the first quarter of 2011 as previously planned, despite a court ruling in favour of rival Huawei related to an ongoing intellectual property dispute with Motorola. The Chinese firm yesterday won a preliminary injunction which stops for the moment Motorola Solutions transferring Huawei’s intellectual property as part of the transaction, pending arbitration. Last month the same court granted Huawei a temporary restraining order in the case. The Chinese company claims the Motorola acquisition would see the illegal transfer of confidential information to rival NSN.

Motorola enjoyed access to Huawei’s intellectual property as a reseller of the Chinese company’s network equipment for ten years. Motorola is in the midst of selling its network-equipment business to NSN in a US$1.2 billion deal. The US court agreed that Huawei had produced sufficient evidence for the case to go further.  US district judge Sharon Johnson Coleman said Huawei had shown “a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits of its threatened misappropriation of trade secrets” claim against Motorola and NSN, in relation to NSN’s planned acquisition and hiring of former Motorola employees with “knowledge of Huawei’s trade secrets”.