Nokia strikes patent licensing deals with Lenovo and Acer

The Finnish company announced both agreements this month. With Lenovo, Nokia has signed a multi-year, multi-technology patent cross-licence agreement. The terms remain confidential. The deal succeeds the previous cross-licence between the two companies, which was concluded in 2021.

Susanna Martikainen, chief licensing officer at Nokia, said the agreement was reached “on an amicable basis” and reflected the strength of the company’s patent portfolio. Lenovo’s Chief Intellectual Property Officer Taylor Ludlam framed the deal as “industry best practice”, emphasising Lenovo’s own R&D investments and its role as both licensor and licensee.

Both companies contribute their inventions to open standards and license them on FRAND terms.

Acer agrees to arbitration

The agreement with Taiwanese manufacturer Acer takes a different shape. The licence covers the use of Nokia’s video coding technologies in Acer’s devices. According to a blogpost by Susanna Martikainen, Nokia’s chief licensing officer, the parties have also agreed to enter into binding arbitration to determine certain terms of the agreement. Related patent litigation between the two companies will be paused or withdrawn, but not formally terminated until the arbitration is concluded.

Nokia had launched a global litigation campaign against Acer, Asus and Hisense in April 2025, targeting products including Acer gaming laptops, Asus laptops and smartphones, and Hisense smart TVs. The Finnish company filed actions at the UPC, Munich Regional Court, in the US (both at the ITC and federal courts), as well as in India and Brazil.

In January 2026, Munich Regional Court granted injunctions against Acer and Asus based on EP 2 774 375, a patent essential to the H.265 video coding standard. In March, the same court issued two further injunctions against the two manufacturers.

UK ruling shifted leverage

A decision by the UK Court of Appeal in May had already shifted the balance in Nokia’s favour. The court ruled that Nokia had complied with its RAND obligations by offering Acer and Asus so-called adjustable licences, under which the financial terms would be set by binding arbitration. According to the court, Acer and Asus could not invoke the jurisdiction of the English courts to set RAND terms if they refused such offers.

As a result, the Court of Appeal permanently stayed the proceedings brought in the UK by Acer and Asus, and the RAND trial scheduled for June and July 2025 was cancelled. The structure of the new Acer agreement — a signed licence combined with binding arbitration over disputed terms — mirrors the model the UK court endorsed.

Hisense had already settled with Nokia in January 2026. With the Acer deal now in place, Asus remains the last of the three original defendants from Nokia’s April 2025 campaign without a licence agreement.