July 23, 2021, Shenzhen – Today OPPO and Sisvel announced the companies settled their multi-jurisdictional dispute, resulting in a license that allows for OPPO’s use of certain cellular technology covered by standard essential patents (SEPs) owned by Mitsubishi Electric and Sisvel. The three parties have been litigating cellular SEP-related issues around the world since 2019, including jurisdictions in China, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as actions at the CNIPA Patent Review Board and the EPO Opposition Division.
The cellular patent portfolio of Sisvel and Mitsubishi Electric includes over 120 patent families (comprising over 1800 individual patents) deemed essential to the cellular standards. While Mitsubishi Electric is the original inventor of its patents, the patents held by Sisvel originate from smartphone manufacturers LGE, Blackberry (formerly Research In Motion), Nokia, the French telecom operator Orange, and the Chinese R&D institute Langbo. These companies all participated in the innovative work that contributed to the creation of the 3G and 4G telecommunication standards that are used all around the world.
“OPPO advocates for a healthy intellectual property ecosystem, and highly respects all intellectual property rights and their values,” said Adler Feng, Senior Director of Intellectual Property at OPPO. He added: “OPPO welcomes the settlement under reasonable royalty fees between licensors and licensees through friendly negotiations.”
“This deal proves that also complex and multi-jurisdiction confrontations can be resolved when the right conditions are met: Sisvel strongly advocates for a healthy innovation ecosystem that simplifies access to key technologies and that guarantees adequate incentives to innovate further.” said Mattia Fogliacco, President of Sisvel. He added: “We are pleased to see this deal validate the relevance of the Mitsubishi Electric and Sisvel portfolios and further contribute to achieve a level playing field.”