Asus signs up to Sisvel’s Wi-Fi Multimode pool, ending litigation

With Asus, Sisvel has secured another major electronics manufacturer as a licensee of its Wi-Fi Multimode programme. Asus joins existing licensees Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Huawei, Panasonic, Philips, Sony Group Corporation, and ZTE. The pool covers SEPs for the Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 standards.

The licensing deal also brings to an end ongoing patent disputes between Asus and three of the pool’s patent owners — Huawei, Philips, and Wilus. Sisvel did not disclose the financial terms of the agreement.

Munich Regional Court was one of the venues where the parties were litigating. The court’s 7th Civil Chamber under presiding judge Oliver Schön recently handed down judgment in Wilus vs Asus, in which it further clarified its approach to FRAND proceedings. In particular, the chamber announced it would in future take a closer look at the FRAND offer and examine whether it is FRAND-compliant.

Wilus and Asus faced off not only at the Munich Regional Court, but also in the US and at Mannheim local division. The court was due to hear Wilus’s UPC claim on 24 and 25 June.

The advisors

An international Bird & Bird team represented Wilus in the UPC action at the local division Mannheim. The team was lead by Milan-based partner Giovanni Galimberti and German litigator Oliver Jüngst. Hosea Haag, founding partner of Ampersand, filed the lawsuits against Asus at Munich Regional Court. Patent attorneys from Eisenführ Speiser were responsible for the technical arguments in both trials. The latter firm probably has the longest relationship with the patent pool. Eisenführ patent attorney Jochen Ehlers has represented Sisvel for many years.

It was only recently that Huawei filed a lawsuit with the Munich Regional Court. As usual, Bird & Bird partner Christian Harmsen and counsel Nick Pearson represented Huawei.

Sisvel licensor Philips filed three patent claims against Asus at Munich Regional Court, with a team from Bardehle Pagenberg representing Philips. Volkmar Henke, Julia Bernatska, and Lisa Engelbert were in charge of the case. Partner Henke regularly acts on behalf of Philips. Huawei and Philips had not filed any claims at the UPC.

Hoffmann Eitle partners Holger Stratmann and Axel Esser represented Asus in the dispute with Wilus. The law firm also acted for Asus in proceedings against Philips.

Following the settlement with Sisvel, Asus continues to face legal action from Nokia and Ericsson in Europe. Other law firms are representing the Asian mobile phone manufacturer in these cases.

Successor programme gathers pace

Sisvel launched the Wi-Fi Multimode programme in January 2026 as the successor to its Wi-Fi 6 patent pool. The predecessor programme had concluded licence agreements with 40 companies over a three-year period, among them Acer, Netgear, Cisco, and HP.

Programme manager Giorgia Varvelli said Sisvel was “pleased to welcome Asus as a licensee of our Wi-Fi Multimode programme and delighted that the pool solution has again shown itself to be an effective way to solve Wi-Fi-related patent disputes”.

Sisvel’s Chief IP Officer Heath Hoglund pointed to the growing list of licensors and licensees as evidence of the programme’s traction in the wi-fi market.

Competition in wi-fi licensing

Sisvel’s expanding wi-fi activities come as the market for wi-fi SEP licensing attracts new players. Patent pool Avanci recently entered the field with its own wi-fi licensing platform aimed at the automotive industry.

Avanci launched its Wi-Fi 6 Vehicle programme with ten patent owners and secured Mercedes-Benz as its first licensee, with wi-fi 7 coverage also planned. (Co-author: Mathieu Klos)