Nokia has appointed Dazhi Wang as Head of China Licensing, Nokia Technology Standards, following Simon Zhao’s move to Access Advance (October 5, 2026 ip fray article).
Mr. Wang joined the Finnish company’s China team in 2024, initially serving as Senior Licensing Manager.
Prior to joining Nokia he worked at Qualcomm in various patent litigation-focused and general legal roles, eventually taking overall responsibility for the U.S. company’s litigation matters in China.
Before that he was in private practice at several Chinese and U.S. law firms.
Mr. Wang takes over from Mr. Zhao, another Qualcomm veteran, who departed Nokia to become Vice President, China Market at patent pool operator Access Advance.
Susanna Martikainen, Nokia’s Chief Licensing Officer, described Mr. Wang as “a key contributor in driving Nokia’s China licensing program forward” (October 5, 2026 Susanna Martikainen LinkedIn post), having delivered “landmark agreements” across sectors such as consumer electronics, automotive, and IoT, “including Nokia’s first TV licensing deal in China with Hisense” (January 8, 2026 ip fray article).
She added:
“China is one of the most important markets for Nokia’s licensing business… Nokia has led the industry in signing standard-essential patent [SEP] licensing agreements with Chinese automotive manufacturers and other IoT companies. These achievements have strengthened our market position, created new business opportunities, and contributed to Nokia’s growth and reputation as a leading innovator.”
As of January this year, Nokia claimed to have signed five bilateral license deals with Chinese automakers (January 20, 2026 ip fray article).
Mr. Wang said he was “energized” by the task ahead, describing China as being “at a critical inflection point for SEP licensing with rapidly evolving jurisprudence, an increasingly sophisticated licensee landscape, and enormous commercial opportunity across emerging sectors” (October 5, 2026 Dazhi Wang LinkedIn post).