Context:
- There is currently only one major pool administrator in the WiFi standard-essential patent (SEP) licensing space: Sisvel. The company owns a WiFi Multimode Pool that chiefly targets consumer electronics companies.
- Avanci Vehicle, a patent platform that offers licenses to the essential cellular technologies used by connected vehicles, has gained some significant momentum recently. Last year, it welcomed 12 new licensors onboard, as well as many licensees, including Toyota (October 10, 2025 ip fray article) and Dolby (November 18, 2025 ip fray article). Avanci Vehicle President Laurie Fitzgerald revealed that there would be more movement in 2026 in a podcast interview with ip fray three months ago (December 4, 2025 ip fray article). Together, the 4G and 5G programs cover more than 250 million connected vehicles worldwide, including more than 140 automotive brands across both programs.
What’s new: Avanci has launched Avanci WiFi, a new licensing platform for standard-essential patents (SEPs) covering the WiFi 6 and (later) WiFi 7 standards. It has already established one program under the platform, named WiFi 6 Vehicle, which has already brought together 10 patent owners and signed its inaugural patent sublicense agreement with Mercedes-Benz. The licensors are: Atlas Global, BlackBerry, Canon, ISG, KPN, Malikie Innovations, Meizu Technology, NEC Corporation, NTT, and OPPO.
Direct impact: While the new WiFi 6 Vehicle program has launched with the same number of participating patent owners as Avanci’s competitor Sisvel, it is the only joint licensing program to have publicly announced a major automaker as a licensee.
Wider ramifications:
- While the main focus will be on this new WiFi 6 program, Head of Avanci’s WiFi and Senior Vice President, Qudus Olaniran, told ip fray in an interview that he expects there will be a WiFi 7 program in place in the next couple of years.
- Nokia has entered into bilateral WiFi patent license agreements with automotive brands (December 11, 2025 ip fray article).
Avanci WiFi 6 Vehicle offers a single license covering thousands of patented technologies essential to implementing WiFi 6 connectivity. The rate is currently on a per-vehicle basis and is confidential, but it is much lower than that of the 4G and 5G programs, as Avanci felt the value proposition is different, Mr. Olaniran revealed.
An early licensee discount may apply for companies that conclude a license agreement before their first sale of a WiFi 6 compliant vehicle, or within six months of the launch of the Avanci WiFi 6 Vehicle program.
The idea for the program first arose about a year ago, when licensees in Avanci’s 4G and 5G programs started showing increased demand for something that went beyond cellular technologies. “I am very excited about how quickly this came together,” Mr. Olaniran said. “We are a one-stop shop for licensees and are always talking to our licensees about their needs, and the OEMs asked us for a solution to address WiFi 6.”
He noted that he was happy to have Mercedes trusting Avanci once again. The company was Avanci 5G’s first licensee. “They saw we were able to deliver, and following the success of 5G, we expect WiFi 6 to follow in the same tracks,” he said. Conversations with new potential licensees are already in progress.
In a statement today, Kasim Alfalahi, Avanci’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, said his company is “excited” that its success in licensing SEPs for cellular connectivity through its 4G and 5G Vehicle programs positioned Avanci as the “natural choice” when the automotive industry began seeking an efficient solution for WiFi licensing. He added:
“Having established a trusted platform for cellular connectivity in vehicles, we are extending that same transparent and balanced approach to WiFi to support continued innovation in connected vehicles.”