Nokia and Honor signed a patent agreement covering 5G and other cellular technologies, a move lauded by the former as its fourth litigation-free deal made with a smartphone player in the last twelve months.

Describing the cross-licencing agreement as amicable, Nokia noted it was a reflection of the strength of its patent portfolio made-up of 20,000 families of IP, of which 6,000 are deemed essential to 5G.

Nokia chief licensing officer for mobile devices Susanna Martikainen said its pact with “one of the leading players in the Chinese smartphone market” highlights its “decades-long contributions to cellular standards and other technologies.”

Honor head of global IP Wenyu Zhou added: “As both 5G SEP [standard essential patent] holder and implementor, Honor highly respects IP rights and strongly believes that reasonable value of IP is important to the development of the mobile industry.”

Full terms of the pair’s deal were not disclosed.

In the last year Nokia has signed three other smartphone patent deals including with industry giants Apple and Samsung.

However, in that period it has also been embroiled in legal spats with Oppo and Vivo on use of its technologies, alongside lodging cases against Amazon and HP on IP related to video streaming.

Last week, the Finnish vendor revealed it would not meet its 2023 full year financial targets, citing outstanding licensing renewal agreements in the statement.

In that stock market disclosure it added: “While there have been intense negotiations between the relevant parties and courts around the world have found in Nokia’s favor [sic], the company will prioritise protecting the value of its patent portfolio versus achieving certain timelines for resolution.”