Context: Avanci has recently welcomed a string of new licensors and licensees to its range of programs. The most significant for Avanci Video was that Ericsson joined as one of its 30 licensors only a couple of weeks ago (Avanci LinkedIn post). And, despite 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’s 5G Vehicle program has made some significant strides forward since its launch in August 2023. Toyota became the first high-volume Japanese automaker to sign up to the program last year (October 9, 2024 ip fray article), following yellow vehicle makers Kobelco, Iseki and Yanmar. General Motors, Volkswagen, Ford, Volvo Cars, and Polestar also signed up as licensees last year (May 8, 2024 ip fray article).
What’s new: Avanci today announced that another major Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Corporation and its luxury vehicle subsidiary INFINITI Motor Company have signed up as licensees to its 5G Vehicle program, granting them access to a portfolio of cellular standard-essential patents (SEPs) provided by more than 70 licensors (April 29, 2025 Avanci LinkedIn post).
Direct impact: The news comes three days after Japan’s Honda also signed up to the Avanci 5G Vehicle (Avanci LinkedIn post). Nissan thus marks the third high-volume Japanese car manufacturer to sign up to Avanci’s 5G program.
Wider ramifications: The company also signed up Volvo Group (which includes Volvo Trucks, Renault Trucks, Prevost, Mack, Nova Bus, and Rokbak), and Jaguar Land Rover (ip fray LinkedIn post) in the past week. Evidently, while Avanci is currently embroiled in a dispute that Tesla brought in the High Court of Justice for England & Wales and which it is trying to revive in a petition to the UK Supreme Court (ip fray LinkedIn post) and two of its licensors are currently seeking injunctions against BYD in Germany (April 2, 2025 ip fray article), the program operator is currently seeing a lot more licensing momentum.
In a statement today, Avanci Vehicle President Laurie Fitzgerald said the company is “excited” to welcome Nissan, with its focus on driving innovation to “enrich people’s lives”:
“More than 55 automotive brands are now participating in the program as licensees, validating the benefits of our global one-stop solution. We are grateful for Nissan’s continuing confidence and trust in Avanci.”
The company has recently welcomed an array of licensors and licensees to its range of programs.
As well as Ericsson, for example, Turkish consumer electronics (particularly TV) manufacturer Vestel joined Avanci Video as a licensee last month (March 28, 2025 ip fray article), following a couple of South Korean universities.
Avanci’s EV Charger program welcomed nine new licensees between November and April (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.
This commercial success is important for Avanci, especially the automaker uptake, as the company is currently embroiled in litigation Tesla is pursuing in the UK. In March, Tesla lost an appeal of the dismissal of its pool rate determination case against Avanci on jurisdictional grounds in the England & Wales Court of Appeal (March 6, 2025 ip fray article). However, Tesla is now trying to persuade the UK Supreme Court to hear the case (ip fray LinkedIn post).
In other Avanci-related litigation news, SEP holders licensing their patents via Avanci Sol IP (February 19, 2025 ip fray article) and IP Bridge (March 11, 2025 ip fray article) are suing Chinese automaker BYD over 4G SEPs in Germany. Both are also seeking Germany-wide injunctions against BYD (ip fray LinkedIn post).German injunctions could become enforceable in much less than a year unless a settlement is reached.