Ericsson, Huawei renew patent license agreement

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.

Ericsson enables communications service providers and enterprises to capture the full value of connectivity. The company’s portfolio spans the following business areas: Networks, Cloud Software and Services, Enterprise Wireless Solutions, Global Communications Platform, and Technologies and New Businesses.

It is designed to help customers go digital, increase efficiency and find new revenue streams. Ericsson’s innovation investments have delivered the benefits of mobility and mobile broadband to billions of people globally.