Nokia reveals leap in 5G essential patents
Finnish telecoms company Nokia has declared more than 3,000 standard-essential patent (SEP) families for 5G, as it seeks to cement its position in the development and standardisation of the technology.
The announcement comes less than six months after Nokia declared 2,000 SEP families for 5G to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).
With the latest declarations, the portfolio of Nokia cellular SEPs declared to one or more of the 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G standards span more than 3,400 patent families (with more than 3,000 being relevant to 5G standards).
Jenni Lukander, president of Nokia Technologies, said: “I am thrilled that our R&D efforts are creating new opportunities for the consumer and industrial technology ecosystem, as the 5G era gathers momentum.”
Over the past five years, Nokia’s SEP portfolio has more than doubled in size, with Nokia Bell Labs producing the majority of these SEPs.
Nokia works with the 3GPP organisation—a partnership of seven standards development organizations including ETSI—to establish 5G standards and enable the rollout of 5G networks.
Marcus Weldon, Nokia chief technology officer and president of Nokia Bell Labs, said: “Nokia has defined many of the fundamental technologies used in virtually all mobile devices and digital systems and networks, and these inventions are critical to the new industrial Internet of Things era. We standardise these inventions to allow widespread utilisation and adoption.”
A virtuous cycle
Over the past two decades, Nokia has invested €129 billion ($139.6 billion) into research and development (R&D) and approximately €4.4 billion in R&D expenses last year alone.
“As an inventor for the long-term, Nokia is able to innovate for a 5G future because of the fair reward we earn through licensing the standardised technologies created from our extensive R&D investments. This virtuous cycle creates vast new potential in 5G technologies, and I am excited for the possibilities ahead,” added Lukander.
In December 2019, Nokia engaged in mediation with German carmaker Daimler, which had accused the Finnish company of failing to license SEPs on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. However, according to blog Fosspatents, the talks have since broken down.
Daimler—alongside 26 companies including Apple, Cisco, BMW and Lenovo—have asked the European Commission to intervene to ensure that SEPs are licensed on fair terms. Nokia was not specifically mentioned.
In the letter, the technology companies and carmakers said that it was increasingly difficult to access technology essential to self-driving cars and other connected devices on FRAND terms.
Meanwhile, in the US, the country’s attorney general William Barr has claimed that the US should consider securing a controlling stake in Nokia or Ericsson in order to combat Huawei’s dominance in the 5G infrastructure market.
The Trump administration has issued a ban on US companies doing business with Huawei, citing security concerns arising from Huawei’s status as a market leader in 5G infrastructure.
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