In the wake of Qualcomm’s $975m settlement of Chinese authorities’ antitrust case last year, it saw a gradual increase in the amount of patent royalties it was collecting from Chinese chip and handset vendors. Now its patience may have run out, as it has filed suit against Meizu, a smartphone vendor backed by retailer Alibaba. Many Chinese companies had withheld payments to Qualcomm, or failed to sign agreements, until they saw the result of the antitrust probe, with a significant effect on the US company’s licensing revenues. However, while the firm warned that it might take some while to start the royalties flowing in again, in fact it has been reporting a string of agreements over recent months. Over 100…