The licensing deal between Huawei and Ericsson includes 3G, 4G and 5G network infrastructure and consumer devices
Huawei and Ericsson have established a new, global patent licensing agreement that includes 3G, 4G and 5G network infrastructure and consumer devices, granting global access to each other’s technologies.
According to Christina Petersson, chief intellectual property officer at Ericsson, the deal is a recognition of “the value of each other’s intellectual property” and 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,” added Petersson.
While the specific duration of the agreement has not been disclosed, it has been described as being “multi-year” and in a briefing, Emil Zhang, head of the European IPR department at Huawei, called it “long-term.”
Zhang also insisted that the agreement will “benefit both companies” and offer a
positive impact to global customers,” while directly dismissing claims that the company is seeking the deal with Ericsson to improve its withering reputation in Europe. “This is nothing about Huawei using Ericsson as a vehicle into Europe,” he said. “It’s just a recognition of the industry role in this IP field, as well as the two companies’ recognition of each other’s IP value.”
With the current portfolio of IPR licensing contracts, Ericsson estimates the full-year 2023 IPR licensing revenues to be approximately SEK 11 billion ($998 million).
