Context:
- Point-of-sale (POS) payment terminals come in different shapes and forms. The first electronic ones used to be connected by cable. Then came WiFi. And nowadays, more and more of them have cellular (and not merely short-distance) connectivity.
- Cellular standard-essential patent (SEP) holders are entitled to royalties from payment terminal makers. Nokia has been very successful striking license deals, not only with all major Western players, such as Verifone (August 14, 2024 LinkedIn post and article by ip fray), but also in China (September 23, 2024 ip fray article).
- POS devices are one of various categories of the Internet of Things (IoT). Patent pools for other IoT product categories such as smart meters (April 22, 2024 ip fray article) have been launched in recent years, but not yet for payment terminals specifically.
What’s new: Sisvel, the leading Europe-based (but globally active) patent pool administrator, has just announced the launch of its POS patent pool covering the 2G to 5G cellular telecommunications standards. The three founding licensors are Huawei, Nokia, and LG Electronics, each of which owns a sizeable cellular SEP portfolio.
Direct impact: Payment terminal makers now have an additional means of licensing certain companies’ cellular SEPs. As with all pools, there is the possibility that more licensors join over time, giving licensees more value without a rate increase.
Wider ramifications:
- Huawei and LG have previously contributed patents to Sisvel-managed pools. Earlier today, we reported on the impressive numbers reported by the innovation engine that is Huawei (April 1, 2026 ip fray article).
- For Nokia we cannot find a recent example of having contributed patents to a Sisvel pool, making this a first (or at least a first in a long time). Nokia sold hundreds of cellular and video codec SEPs to Sisvel in 2012 (January 13, 2012 Computerworld article). Nokia is an Avanci licensor, but licenses only bilaterally in various fields, among them multimedia technologies.
- IoT has become a buzzword in SEP policy discussions, with advocacy groups primarily funded by Big Tech arguing that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) making IoT products struggle with SEP licensing. But no SEP assertion against a small IoT maker has come to our attention, and an announcement like the one discussed in this article shows that the market is working on solutions for IoT-related SEP licensing before any pressing problem can even be objectively verified.
In order to accelerate the uptake of this new pool, Sisvel has defined early-participation incentives for licensors available to those who sign up until mid-May.
POS terminals are an increasingly diversified segment as some products go beyond pure payment processing by offering inventory management, real-time tracking, advanced analytics, and automatic reorders.
Sisvel’s IoT/POS program manager Sven Törringer is quoted in the press release as follows:
“Cellular technology has revolutionised the payments experience for both purchasers and vendors, and the new Sisvel POS pool will make accessing it more efficient and transparent.
“As new licensors are expected to join soon, the programme is set to become even more compelling. This is an exciting day for Sisvel and the POS market. We thank Huawei, LG Electronics and Nokia for their leadership.”
In a LinkedIn post today, Mika Viertiö, Head of IoT Licensing Program, Wireless Technologies Licensing at Nokia, noted that the company has patent license agreements with all major Western POS device vendors covering the use of these technologies in their payment devices (April 1, 2026 Mika Viertiö LinkedIn post). And, in 2024, it signed an industry-first agreement with a Chinese point-of-sale device vendor, and several more deals with Chinese vendors have been signed since (May 19, 2025 ip fray LinkedIn post).
He added:
“Today I am pleased to say that Nokia, together with Huawei and LG Electronics, has established a cellular (2G-5G) patent pool for the POS market and chosen Sisvel as the patent pool administrator. The new pool will provide point-of-sale device vendors with an additional option to obtain licenses to the relevant cellular SEPs. Nokia will continue to offer bilateral licenses on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms.”