Nokia and the Chinese smartphone maker, OPPO, have announced a patent license agreement. Not much is known about the deal because the announcement said the terms of the agreement will remain confidential between the parties; however, we do know from the announcement that as part of the deal, OPPO will make regular payments to Nokia for the multi-year license period.
Commenting on the agreement, Maria Varsellona, Nokia Chief Legal Officer and President of Nokia Technologies, said:
“OPPO is one of the leaders in the smartphone industry and we are pleased to welcome them as a Nokia licensee. This agreement further validates our global licensing program.”
In the statement above, Nokia speaks about its global licensing program; another firm who it agreed a deal with previously was the Chinese firm Xiaomi. As part of that deal, Xiaomi acquired some patents and the firms cross-licensed each others" essential cellular standard patents.
With 5G on the horizon, there’s a very good chance the deal covers several 5G patents that Nokia holds. Nokia has been piling money into the new technology and as a result, has signed off on many deals with various firms including O2 and T-Mobile. An IDC study earlier this month also said that the 5G market is set to generate huge revenues and both of these firms will likely see a slice of those revenues.