Nokia continues making strides in automotive patent licensing: now has four Chinese automakers licensed, Mercedes

Context:

In January, Nokia announced that the company “reached the milestone of 7,000 patent families declared as essential to 5G with more to follow” (January 7, 2025 ip fray article). This came just under a year after Nokia confirmed it had completed all its smartphone patent licensing renewals (February 8, 2024 ip fray article).

Nokia’s Chief Licensing Officer for Wireless Technologies, Susanna Martikainen, then wrote in a blog post in June that Nokia’s patent licensing focus had successfully expanded with the signing of deals with three unnamed consumer electronics companies, several small mobile device vendors, and two major automakers covering the use of its Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technologies in their cars (June 9, 2025 ip fray article). This came after the company also signed with Amazon (March 31, 2025 ip fray article), and settled with Chinese point-of-sale (POS) payment device maker SUNMI (May 19, 2025 ip fray LinkedIn post). Nokia then sued Chinese automaker Geely in the Unified Patent Court’s Mannheim Local Division (LD) and Munich LD, as well as the Munich I Regional Court, a month later (July 22, 2025 ip fray article).

What’s new: During Nokia’s Capital Markets Day 2025 today, Patrik Hammarén, President of Nokia Technologies, revealed that the company now has licenses with four Chinese automakers covering its cellular technologies, and signed a new patent licensing deal with Mercedes involving its wireless technologies last week. Mr. Hammarén was giving investors an update on the company’s patent business, noting that Nokia’s portfolio has grown to over 26,000 patent families (up from 20,000 in 2020) and the vast majority of the current portfolio has more than 10 years of life remaining.

Direct impact: Nokia has been able to focus on new verticals since the successful completion of its smartphone renewals last year, which Mr. Hammarén also revealed today ensures a predictable long-term cash flow with more than €800 million of annual contracted recurring revenue locked in each year all the way through to 2030. “Virtually all of the global smartphone market is licensed for our cellular technologies – something I believe no other patent licensor has at the moment,” he said.

Wider ramifications: Justin Hotard, President & Chief Executive Officer of Nokia, also spoke at the event today, revealing that – as part of the company’s new strategy – Nokia is changing the name of its IPR business from Nokia Technologies to Technology Standards to “reflect the leading role Nokia plays in defining cellular and multimedia standards”. Mr. Hammarén will remain President of the standards business, which will sit alongside Nokia’s Core Networks portfolio and Radio Networks portfolio under the segment of “Mobile Infrastructure” to lead the industry to AI-native networks and 6G.

Nokia’s CEO Justin Hotard noted that the company’s new strategy should not be seen as an internal organization exercise, but one that aligns its portfolios with how its customers see it today. The company has become an “enabler” for standardization, and, as it invests in 6G, it will continue to grow, he emphasized, adding:

“IP is a foundation of durable profit and cash flow – not just for the Mobile Infrastructure segment, but Nokia as a whole.”
Mr. Hammarén went more in-depth on the value of standards for the business. 

“Nokia has strong momentum in its expansion areas, thanks to a series of industry-first agreements, and with plenty of additional opportunities ahead – this diversifies and strengthens the company’s licensing revenue mix,” he said. After finishing its smartphone renewals, Nokia focused on the remaining market, signing a deal with Chinese mobile phone maker (and leading African player) Transsion (January 30, 2025 ip fray article), as well as several other deals this year.