Following a long history at the forefront of the wireless industry, Nokia holds more than 30,000 patent licenses and applications. On Thursday, the Finnish vendor’s portfolio was confirmed to be slightly lighter as patent troll Sisvel International announced that it had acquired more than 450 Nokia patents. According to the Italy-based patent licensing firm, more than 350 of the patents it acquired from Nokia are essential to wireless standards. “Sisvel has been extremely active in recent years working with the wireless industry to provide simplified access to essential wireless patents on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory, or FRAND, conditions,” said Sisvel CEO Giustino de Sanctis in a statement. “Acquiring the many essential patents in this key portfolio is a very significant step for Sisvel and a testament to Sisvel’s commitment and determination to succeed in this space. We look forward to offering these essential patents on FRAND terms and to continuing our work within the wireless industry.” The company’s press release follows below.
Sisvel Acquires Over 450 Nokia Patents, Including Over 350 Patents Essential to Wireless Standards
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Sisvel International announced today that it has acquired 47 patent families comprised of more than 450 patents and applications originally filed by Nokia.
The patents and patent applications cover technologies used in a wide range of mobile communications devices and services. Thirty-three of the patent families, consisting of more than 350 patents and applications, have been declared essential by Nokia to second, third and fourth-generation communications standards, including GSM (Global Systems for Mobile communications), UMTS/WCDMA (Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service / Wide-Band Code Division Multiple Access) and LTE (Long Term Evolution). The balance of the portfolio consists of implementation patents including video encoding optimization technologies. The acquired patents remain subject to certain prior agreements and Nokia is licensed under the portfolio as part of the acquisition.
“Sisvel has been extremely active in recent years working with the wireless industry to provide simplified access to essential wireless patents on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory, or FRAND, conditions,” said Giustino de Sanctis, CEO of Sisvel International. Mr. de Sanctis also explained that “Acquiring the many essential patents in this key portfolio is a very significant step for Sisvel and a testament to Sisvel’s commitment and determination to succeed in this space. We look forward to offering these essential patents on FRAND terms and to continuing our work within the wireless industry.”
