Ericcson has filed lawsuits against ZTE in the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany, saying the Chinese company has breached its patents relating to second- and third-generation wireless technologies known as GSM and WCDMA, the paper said late on Friday.

Ericcson, the world's biggest mobile phone equipment manufacturer, will ask the courts to ban the sales of ZTE products that include technologies where the Swedish company's patents have allegedly been breached.

The company's chief intellectual property officer said ZTE had refused to sign a licensing agreement despite at least four years of talks.