• Following a years-long dispute, Oppo and Nokia have finally settled on a solution.
• The pair have announced a cross-license agreement that will span multiple years.
• Oppo will make royalty payments to Nokia as well as catch-up payments for the years it was allegedly infringing on Nokia’s patents.

Since around 2021, Nokia, the telecommunications brand not the brand of phones manufactured by HMD Global, has been challenging the so-called improper use of its patents.

The patents being infringed upon are regarding Nokia’s 4G and 5G tech and it alleges that smartphone maker Oppo was infringing on these patents. Whether or not Oppo was infringing those patents may now never be known as Oppo and Nokia have reached a licensing deal.

“We are delighted to have reached a cross-license agreement with OPPO that reflects the mutual respect for each other’s intellectual property and Nokia’s investments in R&D and contributions to open standards. OPPO is one of the leading companies in the global smartphone market and we look forward to working together to bring further innovation to their users around the world. The new agreement – along with the other major smartphone agreements we have concluded over the past year – will provide long-term financial stability to our licensing business,” president of Nokia Technologies, Jenni Lukander said in a press statement.

As part of this deal, Oppo will make royalty payments to Nokia as part of a multi-year patent cross-license agreement. In addition, Oppo will pay Nokia catch-up payments to cover the periods where Oppo allegedly infringed Nokia’s patents.

The Finnish firm says it will acknowledge this deal and the back payments in its first financial report for Q1 2024.

“We are pleased to have reached this global patent cross-license agreement with Nokia, which includes cross-licensing for 5G standard-essential patents. This agreement reflects the mutual recognition and respect for each other’s intellectual property and lays the foundation for future collaboration between OPPO and Nokia. OPPO continues to advocate for reasonable royalty fees and a long-term approach to intellectual property that supports the resolution of disputes through amicable negotiations and mutual respect for the value of all intellectual property,” chief intellectual property officer at Oppo, Feng Ying said in a statement.

Nokia says that it has compiled as many 20 000 patent families since it was established in 2000 with 6000 of those patents declared essential to 5G.

“Nokia contributes its inventions to open standards in return for the right to license them on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. Companies can license and use these technologies without the need to make their own substantial investments in the standards, fueling innovation and the development of new products and services for consumers,” the firm said.