Huawei and Verizon are headed for the courts after attempts at mediation, over their various patent lawsuits, failed in the spring. Of course, this is no ordinary legal spat over the validity of patents or the level of royalties – it is the direct result of the 5G cold war between the USA and China. Huawei sued the US operator in February 2020, alleging violation of 12 patents and claiming that extensive attempts to negotiate a licensing deal had broken down. The previous June – as the Trump administration was imposing a growing list of restrictions on Huawei’s access to US technology or customers – Huawei had presented Verizon with a bill of over $1bn covering fees for more than…