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8 August 2016Patents

Qualcomm and Vivo agree licensing deal

Chip maker Qualcomm has agreed another licensing deal centring on 3G and 4G technology, the latest of several agreements this year.

The deal with Vivo Communication Technology, announced yesterday, August 7, means Vivo is granted a royalty-based licence to develop, make and sell products that use the 3G WCDMA and CDMA2000 technologies, and the 4G LTE-TDD, TD-SCDMA and GSM technologies in China.

The deal is the latest of several agreed by the chip maker this year; it has set up deals with Zhuhai Ewpe Information Technology, Lenovo and Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecommunications in the last few months.

As with the previous deals, the royalty rate in its agreement with Vivo has been kept confidential but Qualcomm said it is consistent with the plan it submitted to China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) last year.

In February 2015, the NDRC concluded a 14-month investigation into Qualcomm’s licensing of chips after a competition probe.

The company agreed to offer separate licences to certain patents, with licensees whose phones use 4G technology paying a 3.5% royalty rate, and those whose handsets incorporate 3G paying 5%.

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