Context: Since launching in August 2023, Avanci Vehicle 5G has made some significant strides forward. Toyota (October 9, 2024 ip fray article), General Motors, Volkswagen, Ford, Volvo Cars, Polestar (May 8, 2024 ip fray article), Honda (Avanci LinkedIn post), Volvo Group, Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan Motor Corporation, and its luxury vehicle subsidiary INFINITI Motor Company (April 29, 2025 ip fray article) all signed up as licensees to its 5G Vehicle program over the last year, granting them access to a portfolio of cellular standard-essential patents (SEPs) provided by 75 licensors.
What’s new: Lenovo has joined Avanci 4G Vehicle and Avanci 5G Vehicle as a licensor, while Chinese IoT device-making supplier Quectel has joined Avanci 5G Vehicle as a licensor (July 17, 2025 Avanci press release). Avanci has now licensed 225 million connected vehicles through Avanci Vehicle, with more than 110 brands covered by Avanci 4G and 55 by Avanci 5G.
Direct impact: The new additions bring the number of licensors in Avanci 4G to 60 and in Avanci 5G to 75, increasing the breadth of the licenses for the automakers already signed up to the programs for no additional cost.
Wider ramifications: It is particularly interesting that Lenovo has signed up to the programs as a licensor, as it is more renowned for being an implementer of standards, and one which often gets sued. Although its settlement with Ericsson earlier this year already started to indicate a shift in its traditional role on the global SEP licensing stage (April 3, 2025 ip fray article).
In a statement today, Avanci Vehicle President Laurie Fitzgerald said the company extends a warm welcome to both Lenovo and Quectel. Commenting specifically on Quectel, she said:
“As a company with a strong commitment to R&D, including for cellular technologies, a global research presence, and as an existing supplier to the automotive industry, we thank the team for its confidence in the Avanci platform.”
Willis Yang, Senior Vice President at Quectel Wireless Solutions, said the company’s participation in the Avanci 5G Vehicle program as a licensor is a “natural extension” of its commitment to supporting the connected vehicle ecosystem. He added:
“This platform offers automotive manufacturers a streamlined and efficient way to license essential cellular technologies, including those innovations developed by Quectel.”
Today’s news comes after Avanci has welcomed an array of licensors and licensees to its range of programs. One of the most significant additions this year was when Ericsson joined as one of Avanci Video’s 30 licensors (Avanci LinkedIn post), shortly after Turkish consumer electronics (particularly TV) manufacturer Vestel (and a couple of South Korean universities) joined as a licensee (March 28, 2025 ip fray article).
Between November and April, Avanci’s EV Charger program welcomed nine new licensees (ip fray LinkedIn post), bringing the total up to 48 licensors and 13 licensees, including LG Electronics (November 28, 2024 ip fray article), Compleo, EvoCharge, TechniSat Digital GmbH, Wallbox Chargers, Wayne Fueling Systems, and its first Japanese licensees, Toyota Industries Corporation and Nitto Kogyo.
There is presently only one automaker against whom SEPs are being enforced, and that is BYD. Sol IP and IP Bridge are suing the Chinese automaker over 4G SEPs in Germany (April 2, 2025 ip fray article), the Unified Patent Court (May 27, 2025 ip fray article), and Brazil (where one successfully filed and won a preliminary injunction last week: July 12, 2025 ip fray article). Both Sol IP and IP Bridge are Avanci licensors, meaning BYD could license the patents through a pool license or opt for bilateral licenses.
This news also comes after Avanci faced issues in China, where automotive industry associations China Automotive Technology & Research Center Ltd. and China Society of Automotive Engineers have been encouraging their members not to take a license from Avanci (February 24, 2025 ip fray article).
Avanci itself is also currently embroiled in a dispute that Tesla brought in the High Court of Justice for England & Wales and which it is currently trying to revive via a UK Supreme Court review (July 2, 2025 ip fray article).