Datang Mobile, Lenovo sign patent licensing agreement
(April 22, 2025, 22:30 PM Beijing)——On April 22, 2025, Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of CICT Mobile, announced that it has signed a global patent cross-licensing agreement with Lenovo.
Chen Fangying, General Manager of the Intellectual Property Operations and Legal Affairs Department at CICT Mobile, stated: "We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Lenovo through amicable negotiations. This licensing agreement demonstrates mutual respect for intellectual property and recognizes our over two decades of contributions to wireless communication standards. It also enables our company to continue strengthening R&D investments in future mobile communication technologies."
Datang Mobile has now secured licensing agreements with three smartphone makers - Apple, Samsung, and this first Chinese company.
The licensing agreement with Apple was reached through the intermediary Sisvel, which has been disclosed in the IPO prospectus of CICT Mobile. Although the amount was not specifically disclosed in the IPO prospectus, later U.S. court documents showed that the amount was $95 million.
Subsequently, during the licensing process with Samsung, Datang Mobile was caught up in a global patent dispute.
Datang Mobile sued Samsung in the Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court and the Munich Local Court in Germany respectively. Among them, the claim to the Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court included ruling on the 4G/5G licensing rate between Datang Mobile and Samsung.
Samsung also initiated lawsuits against Datang Mobile in a U.S. court, alleging patent invalidation, breach of contract, and violation of the obligation to negotiate in good faith.
However, on April 19, 2024, the Munich Local Court in Germany made a judgment, ruling that Samsung's mobile devices supporting 4G functions infringed Datang Mobile's Standard Essential Patent EP2237607, and considered Samsung as an "unwilling" licensee, thus issuing an injunction against Samsung's related products.
Finally, the two parties reached a settlement and signed a patent licensing agreement in August 2024.
Judging from the successful signing between Datang Mobile and Lenovo this time, the two parties did not reach the stage of litigation, which is a very unexpected choice for Lenovo.
Because in recent years, Lenovo has successively been involved in legal disputes over patent licensing fees with InterDigital, Ericsson, and ZTE Corporation.
Therefore, the two parties reaching a licensing agreement without litigation this time may be a win-win situation.
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