Chongqing court’s higher 5G aggregate royalty burden in ZTE v. Samsung ruling (than in OPPO v. Nokia) has reasons

Context:

• The Chongqing Intermediate People’s Court has issued several influential fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) royalty determinations involving cellular standard-essential patents (SEPs), including its earlier OPPO v. Nokia decision and its more recent ZTE v. Samsung ruling (May 11, 2026 ip fray article).
• Aggregate royalty rates are often a key component of top-down methodologies used to assess SEP portfolio value and FRAND licensing terms, be it as the primary valuation method or for a cross-check. The relationship between the aggregate royalty rates adopted in OPPO v. Nokia and ZTE v. Samsung has attracted attention because the latter judgment relied on a significantly higher 5G aggregate royalty burden.

What’s new: We have taken a closer look at the rationale for that difference.

• The Chongqing court explained why the 5G aggregate royalty rate adopted in OPPO v. Nokia should not be treated as an industry-recognised benchmark.
• In ZTE v. Samsung, the court relied on a higher 5G aggregate royalty burden of 7.8–8.5%, compared with the approximately 4.3–5.2% range adopted in OPPO v. Nokia, which the court described as an “interim figure” rather than an industry-established rate.

Direct impact:

• The decision may strengthen SEP holders’ arguments for higher aggregate royalty assumptions in future licensing negotiations and FRAND disputes, while making it more difficult for parties to rely on OPPO v. Nokia as evidence of an established 5G aggregate royalty benchmark.
• Chongqing is an important venue for such cases, but other Chinese courts may reach different conclusions anyway.

Wider ramifications: The ruling suggests that judicially determined aggregate royalty rates do not automatically become benchmarks for all purposes. That said, they may influence how future courts and litigants assess the evidentiary value of prior aggregate royalty determinations in SEP disputes.