Lenovo has snapped up more than 3,800 patent families from Japan’s NEC for an undisclosed sum. The portfolio includes essential patents for 3G and LTE.

The announcement comes only days after the fast-growing Chinese PC and smartphone maker said it had agreed to pay $100 million to acquire mobile licence patents from Unwired Planet.

“A strong patent portfolio is a key element for success in the smartphone business. This investment strengthens Lenovo’s existing intellectual property portfolio,” said Ira Blumberg, Lenovo’s vice president of intellectual property, following the NEC deal.  “As Lenovo expands its mobile PC Plus business into new markets, this investment shows it is committed to having the IP we need for global success.”

Lenovo said it would continue to acquire additional intellectual property assets both through its own innovation and engineering, as well as from external sources “to support its rapidly expanding PC Plus business that includes mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets”.

The Chinese firm is making rapid headway into the mobile market and positioning for further growth through its planned acquisition of Motorola Mobility from Google.

For three months ended December, Lenovo said its combined shipments of smartphones and tablets – 17.3 million devices – exceeded the number of PCs it sold (15.3 million) for the third consecutive quarter.

Lenovo claimed number four spot in smartphone supplier rankings at the end of 2013 with a 4.8 per cent market share.