Context: Last week we reported on a new landscaping report (Patently100) according to which European companies hold approximately 17% of all 5G standard-essential patent (SEP) families with at least one U.S. member (January 3, 2025 ip fray article). That shares exceeds European companies’ collective market share in cars (17%) and dwarfs the one in smartphones (< 5%).
What’s new: Today Nokia announced (January 7, 2025 Nokia press release)that the company “reached the milestone of 7,000 patent families declared as essential to 5G with more to follow.” The acting president of Nokia Technologies, Patrick Hammarén (November 13, 2024 ip fray interview), already has his sights on the next generation of cellular connectivity: “Nokia’s active pre-standardization work puts us in a leading position for 6G standardization which begins later this year.”
Direct impact: Nokia is already very far along with its 5G licensing programs. According to the press release, Nokia has licensed its patents (in many but not all cases including cellular communications) to more than 250 companies. All license agreements with major smartphone makers have recently been renewed, and Nokia is at the forefront of signing up licensees (including major Chinese companies) in other product categories, such as two Chinese automakers (December 17, 2024 ip fray article) and payment terminal maker PAX (September 23, 2024 ip fray article). The psychological effect of having reached the 7K milestone may still help Nokia when negotiating additional 5G agreements.
Wider ramifications: EU policy makers should think about what they can do to ensure European contributions to 6G will be at least at the same level as for 5G, and preferably even greater than that.
Nokia’s press release says the company’s “fundamental inventions in 5G include groundbreaking innovations in 5G radio protocol design, 5G security and interface technologies that define how smartphones, connected cars and other connected devices interact with 5G networks.”
This is the full quote from Mr. Hammarén:
“Nokia’s substantial investment in cellular R&D and standardization continues to pay off. We have now reached the landmark of 7,000 high-quality patent families declared as essential to the 5G standard and Nokia’s active pre-standardization work puts us in a leading position for 6G standardization which begins later this year. Thanks to all the Nokia inventors and our patenting professionals for their hard work and problem-solving. Together they continue to help Nokia maintain its technology leadership and drive cellular innovation forward.”
The press release furthermore says the company has invested $150B in R&D and standardization since 2000 and owns over 20K patent families. That means approximately 1 in 3 Nokia patent families is 5G-essential. There is considerable breadth as the licensed technologies include not only mobile devices but also, more generally, consumer electronics, connected vehicles, IoT devices and solutions, and video streaming.
Shortly after the press release, Mr. Hammarén also made a LinkedIn post that contains the following passage:
“Of course, when it comes to assessing the strength of patent portfolios, the one thing we always tell people is that it is not just about quantity, you have to look at the quality of the patents, because some patents are more relevant and more fundamental and therefore more valuable than others. And in fact, some companies over-declare, claiming the relevance of lots of patents even though they may not be truly inventive or genuinely relevant to the standard. So quality is crucial and at Nokia we focus on quality.”
ip fray also noted, when commenting on the Patently100 landscaping report, that simple patent counts are relevant and informative, but not the definitive answer to valuation questions. There can be significant differences in value.