China-based mobile phone manufacturer Huawei may be blocked from selling its mobile phones in the UK following a patent lawsuit from Unwired Planet.

The manufacturer received a high court ruling to enter into a global licensing agreement with Unwired Planet or face an injunction in the UK.

The terms of the injunction have not been set, but they could see Huawei being unable to sell devices in the country.

Unwired Planet is a holder of a number of patent portfolios around the world. It has argued that its patents should take a global scope, and that any licensing of the patents should therefore also be global.

No dice

Huawei, however, sought to only license any patents that are applicable to the UK and that have been litigated in the country. The manufacturer argued that Unwired Planet was in breach of copyright law by not allowing this licensing deal.

A high court judge has now ruled that Unwired Planet is not in breach of copyright law and can licence on a global basis. To that end, if a global licensing deal can't be agreed between the two companies, Huawei could eventually face an injuction on UK sales.

As the Financial Times notes however, the ruling also stated that none of the previous offers made by Unwired Planet to settle the dispute were fair and reasonable.

A formal decision on the injunction is expected to be heard in the next few weeks.

This is not the first time Huawei has faced legal action. In November 2011 it was approached by lawyers from Microsoft demanding royalties over its use of Android.