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China smartphone maker Oppo ends protracted legal battle with Nokia, agrees to pay 5G royalties

  • Oppo says it has signed a global patent agreement with Nokia, covering standard-essential patents in 5G and other cellular technologies
  • The two firms had been engaged in multiple patent lawsuits, including one that resulted in Oppo being banned from selling smartphones in Germany

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An Oppo store in Shanghai, China. Photo: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Iris Dengin Shenzhen

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo and Finnish electronics giant Nokia said they had struck a global patent licensing deal, ending a years-long legal battle over cellular patent rates that spanned continents.

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The two companies had been engaged in multiple patent lawsuits across 12 countries since 2021, as they failed to agree on the price for Oppo to use Nokia’s 5G patent portfolios on the Chinese firm’s smartphones.

In some markets, court rulings in favour of Nokia have resulted in Oppo being banned from selling to local customers. After losing a patent infringement lawsuit to Nokia in Germany in 2022, Oppo halted smartphone sales there and delisted most products from its local website.

On Wednesday, Oppo – the world’s fourth-largest smartphone brand, according to data from research firm IDC – said it had signed a global patent cross-licensing agreement with Nokia, covering standard-essential patents (SEPs) in 5G and other cellular technologies.

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The rise of Chinese smartphones

The rise of Chinese smartphones

SEPs are essential for products to comply with industry standards.

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