Nokia Oyj signed a new multiyear cross-license patent agreement with Samsung Electronics that enables the handset maker to use Nokia’s technology in its products.
(Bloomberg) — Nokia Oyj signed a new multiyear cross-license patent agreement with Samsung Electronics that enables the handset maker to use Nokia’s technology in its products.
The deal follows the expiry of a previous agreement at the end of 2022, and covers fundamental inventions in 5G and other technologies, the Finnish company said in a statement Monday. Samsung will make payments to Nokia beginning Jan. 1, Nokia said, without disclosing further details of the deal, saying the terms are confidential.
“We are delighted to have reached an amicable agreement,” Jenni Lukander, president of Nokia Technologies, said. “The agreement gives both companies the freedom to innovate, and reflects the strength of Nokia’s patent portfolio, decades-long investments in R&D and contributions to cellular standards and other technologies.”
At Nokia, licensing has grown more important over the past decade since it stopped making phones and focused on networking gear and intellectual property. It continues to rely heavily on royalties from its inventions used in the global smartphone market, but has in recent years begun to branch out to other sources of intellectual property revenue, including charging automakers for the use of its innovations.
Nokia, which is reporting its full-year earnings on Thursday, said the agreement aligns with its previously disclosed outlook. In December, Nokia extended a patent licensing deal with Huawei Technologies Co, and is yet to come to an agreement with two other Chinese phone makers, Oppo and Vivo.
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