Nokia and Honor have now gone into a 5G patent partnership to share ideas to help develop 5G devices. This new partnership is the fourth of its kind from Nokia in the past 12 months, and it’s a litigation-free smartphone agreement. With this partnership in place, Honor will be able to make use of Nokia’s 5G patents in the development of their products without the risk of ending up in a court case.
However, this partnership is not ending the long tussle between Nokia and other Chinese technology manufacturing firms. The two major Chinese tech firms that Nokia is currently in a legal battle with over 5G patents are OPPO and Vivo. Nokia has been struggling to settle the case with these firms since 2021 with no solution favouring Nokia’s business.
Both OPPO and Vivo are arguing their cases, demanding lower royalties for the usage of Nokia 5G patents on their products. Local courts in China are taking sides with OPPO and Vivo, demanding that Nokia work on their royalties to favour these firms’ demands. This ruling from the court is not in favour of Nokia’s business, as it devalues its patent portfolio.
For this year, Nokia will move to protecting “the value of its patent portfolio” instead of focusing on resolutions with various firms. While the tussle with OPPO and Vivo continues for Nokia’s 5G patent, this new agreement with Honor might bring some value to Nokia’s business. This year we’ll have a close look at Nokia’s business and see its growth in the area of patents as well as the already standing case with these Chinese tech firms.