Today Nokia announced that it has signed a 5G patent license agreement with Honor. It covers both companies’ “fundamental innovations in 5G and other cellular technologies,” according to the official press release.
Nokia boasts that this is the fourth major smartphone deal it has closed in the past 12 months, which sounds more like a patent licensing firm than anything else. It also says its “industry-leading patent portfolio” consists of “nearly 20,000 patent families, of which more than 6,000 patent families have been declared essential for 5G”.
However, as you would expect, the exact terms of the deal between Honor and Nokia will remain confidential between them. It’s interesting to see Honor take this route, while fellow Chinese company Oppo has fought Nokia through the courts, with poor results in parts of Europe. Perhaps Oppo is next?
In early 2023, Nokia extended its cross-license patent agreement with Samsung, and then it did the same with Apple in July. Now Honor is part of the game, so there is no chance of suing Nokia for patent infringement like Oppo.
