14 DAY TRIAL // Today, a press release posted on Nokia's website announced that the Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei with its affiliates had agreed upon a patent license for standards essential patents. This will cover the worldwide use of all standards essential patents of all parties, including GSM, WCDMA, CDMA2000, optical networking, datacom and WiMAX , and will affect mobile devices, infrastructure and services.
Vice President, Intellectual Property Rights, Nokia, Ilkka Rahnasto, said, "We are very pleased to have entered into this agreement with Huawei." Furthermore, Mr. Rahnasto stated, "Huawei is the thirty-fifth company to license Nokia patents related to cellular standards and this agreement demonstrates how companies can license intellectual property in a way that encourages industry innovation and fosters a healthy IPR environment."
Head of Intellectual Property Rights, Nokia Siemens Networks, Gottfried Weidel, added that, "As a newer player in the telecoms IPR environment, Nokia Siemens Networks see this as our most significant licensing agreement to date. It will help to create a more predictable business environment and further supports our goal of industry innovation."
"This agreement is of great significance and benefit to Huawei, Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks," said Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, Huawei, Song Liuping. "It underscores our commitment to create a harmonious environment for the benefit and development of the telecom industry."
This is good news, especially for mobile users, since the agreement will ensure that the technology incorporated in Nokia phones will be included in Huawei handhelds, and vice-versa. Well, we’ll just have to wait and see about the vice-versa part, since Nokia's patent portfolio includes about 300 GSM, 370 WCDMA and 170 CDMA2000 declared essential patent families. Nevertheless, the good part will be that customers will be able to buy a phone built on Nokia's standards at a lower price - since it is known that there are cases when we don’t pay solely for the device, but also for the company's name stamped on it.