Nokia and Honor have recently signed a 5G patent license agreement, making it Nokia’s fourth major smartphone agreement within the last 12 months. This agreement emphasizes the significance of Nokia’s patents in the industry. The terms of the agreement have not been disclosed by either party. Previously, Nokia was involved in a sales ban that affected Oppo and Vivo smartphones in certain European countries. In an effort to avoid similar situations, Honor has chosen to sign a 5G patent license agreement with Nokia. Wenyu Zhou, Head of Global Intellectual Property at Honor, stated, “As both 5G SEP holder and implementor, Honor highly respects IP rights and strongly believes that reasonable value of IP is important to the development of the mobile industry.” Nokia holds a substantial portfolio of approximately 20,000 patent families, including over 6,000 patent families essential to 5G technology. These patents have been the result of over €140 billion invested in R&D since 2000. Nokia’s heavy investment in R&D allows for other companies to license and utilize its technologies without the need for their own substantial investments. This strategic move has proven to be a smart and profitable business for Nokia.
