Nokia, Samsung renew their 5G patent licencing deal – Times of India

Nokia and Samsung have struck an agreement over 5G patent licencing, as announced on the former’s blog. The partnership means that Samsung will extend the deal that allows it to continue using Nokia’s 5G technology. The previous deal between the two had expired in December last year.
Finnish firm Nokia has a vast portfolio of 5G inventions and allows its partners to use the same on time-based deals. It currently holds 4,500 patent families that are crucial for 5G. The latest deal with Samsung is a multi-year arrangement for which the South Korean smartphone-maker will pay royalties to Nokia, beginning from January 1, 2023.

The deal gives Samsung and Nokia the ‘freedom to innovate’
Reflecting on his company’s agreement with Samsung, Nokia Technologies president Jenni Lukander noted that the partnership grants both firms the ability to experiment with these technologies. Moreover, he underlined Nokia’s patent works over the years and its legacy in cellular and other kinds of technology.
Lukander 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,” said Jenni Lukander, President of Nokia Technologies.”

As per Nokia’s post, the terms of the partnership is in line with what its ‘outlook commentary’ mentioned in its financial report for Q3 2022 and January-September 2022.
Samsung also has 5G agreement with a Nokia rival
Although major, this deal isn’t the only one of its kind that Samsung has completed. That’s because a similar 5G partnership also exists between the South Korean firm and another Finland-based company Ericsson. This particular deal is a cross-licencing agreement that allowed sales of network infrastructure and handsets. It came into effect from January 1, 2021 and runs through multiple years.
The Samsung-Ericsson deal also involves the two tech companies carrying out ‘technology cooperation projects’ aimed to ‘advance the mobile industry in open standardisation.’
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