Context:
- ip fray‘s take on patent ownership rankings and landscaping is agnostic. At least for the time being, we do not endorse any particular ranking, report, or patent court, nor is anything in here meant to imply that top-down is the preferred valuation method for standard-essential patents (SEPs); in fact, we criticized the proposed EU SEP Regulation not least for that reason. We place greater emphasis on the performance of key SEP holders in litigation than others.
- There is a plurality of opinions out there, however, and it is our responsibility to report on what the market is interested in.
- One patent data service (not the only one) we’ve mentioned before is Patently. Last year, it was interesting to see that European companies actually have more market share in cellular SEPs than in automotive, let alone smartphones (January 3, 2026 ip fray article). Also, after Nokia publicly touted its 7,000 declared 5G SEPs, Patently confirmed the number (February 7, 2025 ip fray article).
What’s new: Patently has updated its Patently100. There are two reports:
- an updated cellular SEP report that also indicates how certain ranks changed and discussed other noteworthy developments since last year’s edition; and
- Patently’s first-ever WiFi report, which comes with a top 75 list for WiFi 6 and a top 25 list for WiFi 5.
The reports offer a value-add beyond data. They contain explanations, such as on why the licensing of WiFi SEPs represents a complex terrain to navigate, authored by Jerome Spargaaren, who founded Patently and previously the EIP law firm. He has real-world SEP licensing and litigation experience at the highest level.
In terms of the major players, Huawei’s cellular and WiFi 6 patent counts are at the top. And Huawei has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to enforce such patents. Sometimes cases may get stayed based on non-binding preliminary opinions by patent offices or courts, but by and large, Huawei’s patents drive settlements, even for entire pools.
LG is also a top 3 SEP owner (based on counts) in both cellular and WiFi 6. It has overtaken Samsung to make it into the cellular top 3. Qualcomm is in the top 4 for both.
Ericsson, ZTE, and Nokia are also longstanding top 10 cellular SEP holders. Both also hold WiFi patents, and Nokia is quite successful in the video patent licensing business (January 14, 2026 ip fray articles).
Note that those companies don’t need to point to landscape reports in wireless: they have plenty of comparable licenses to show, and have proven that they are ready, willing and able to enforce if necessary.
Rather than go into too much detail here, we recommend that you download the report. In the final selection, just a few words about where the major SEP holders are located.
Geographic distribution
The following map from Patently’s website shows the geographic distribution of 5G SEP ownership, not by city or region by country (for example, Qualcomm is on the West Coast, unlike the circle that marks the USA):
Does this mean Europe has a weakness in cellular SEPs? Yes and no:
- Yes, it used to be much stronger and relative to its aspirations it should still be.
- But this is yet one of the fields of technology in which Europe is stronger than in most others. If you’re looking for patent categories in which Europe’s position is far weaker, look at WiFi, particularly WiFi 7 (where not only the U.S. and China, but also Japan and even little South Korea are stronger than all of Europe combined), or the two most important non-SEP categories for the next decades: AI and quantum computing (January 1, 2026 ip fray article; ip fray’s most detailed analysis of innovation and economic policy issues to date). Therefore, Europe should cherish what it has in cellular.