Ericsson
and Huawei have renewed a multi-year global patent cross-licensing agreement
that covers patents essential to standards relevant to the products of the
parties, including 3G, 4G, and 5G cellular technologies.
The agreement covers the companies’
respective sales of network infrastructure and consumer devices, granting both
parties global access to each other's patented, standardized technologies.
"We are pleased to announce our
renewal of our global cross-licensing agreement with Huawei," said Christina Petersson, Chief
Intellectual Property Officer at Ericsson. "Both
companies are major contributors to mobile communication standards and
recognize the value of each other's intellectual property. This agreement
demonstrates the commitment of both parties that intellectual property should
be respected and rewarded, and that leading technological innovations should be
shared across the industry. A balanced approach to licensing ensures that the
interests of both patent holders and implementers are served fairly, driving
healthy, sustainable industry development for the benefit of consumers and
enterprises everywhere."
With
the current portfolio of IPR licensing contracts, Ericsson estimates the
full-year 2023 IPR licensing revenues to be approximately SEK 11 billion.
Over
several decades, Ericsson has been a leading contributor to 3GPP and to the
development of global mobile standards. The value of Ericsson’s patent
portfolio of more than 60,000 granted patents is strengthened by our leading
position as 5G vendor, and annual investments of more than USD 4 billion in
R&D. The company is confident of growing its IPR revenues with further
agreements and by expanding into additional licensing areas long term.