Nokia announced on January 8 that it has signed a multi-year patent license agreement with Hisense, authorizing the consumer electronics manufacturer to use Nokia video technology in its television products. Under the terms of the agreement, Hisense will pay Nokia patent royalties. This agreement resolves all patent-related litigation between the two parties in all jurisdictions. This marks the first patent licensing agreement between Nokia and Hisense, with specific terms remaining confidential per mutual agreement.

Susanna Martikainen, Chief Licensing Officer of Nokia Technologies, stated: “Nokia empowers other companies to build upon our innovations by licensing our patented technologies. We are pleased to reach this agreement with Hisense, which recognizes Nokia's leadership in video and multimedia research and standardization.”

Litigation timeline:

In 2025, Nokia initiated multiple patent lawsuits against several companies including Hisense, Acer, and Asus. These lawsuits were filed with judicial and administrative bodies across multiple countries and regions, including the United States, India, and Europe.

In early April 2025, Nokia filed lawsuits against Hisense, Acer, and Asus in German courts and the Unified Patent Court, alleging infringement of video coding patent EP2661892.

Subsequently, on April 7, Nokia filed lawsuits against Hisense and others in U.S. district courts in Georgia, Texas, and California, involving five U.S. patents. On April 11, Nokia further filed a Section 337 investigation petition with the U.S. International Trade Commission.

In June, the battle spread to Asia. Nokia sued Hisense and Acer in the Delhi High Court on June 12, followed by adding Asus to the lawsuit on June 26.

Facing Nokia's successive patent lawsuits, Hisense took countermeasures including patent invalidation challenges and requests for royalty rate rulings. Subsequently, Hisense initiated its own patent infringement lawsuits against Nokia, with specific actions as follows:

June 2025: Hisense filed a lawsuit in the UK High Court seeking a global FRAND rate determination and provisional license.

Subsequently, Hisense initiated invalidity challenges against two of Nokia's video codec patents in China before the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA). (Patent Nos. ZL200780053133.3 and ZL200780044601.0)

In October 2025, Hisense filed a request for invalidation of Nokia's US Patent No. 9036701 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

On October 31, 2025, Hisense Group formally initiated patent infringement litigation against Nokia Corporation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, alleging infringement of seven U.S. patents by four core Nokia products.

On December 18, 2025, the UK High Court ruled in favor of Acer, Asus, and Hisense. Before finalizing FRAND terms for patent licensing, Nokia, as the patent holder, must agree to a provisional licensing arrangement. This provisional license would require Acer, Asus, and Hisense to pay Nokia $0.365 per device sold. This amount exceeded Acer and Asus's initial proposal of $0.03 but fell below Nokia's original demand of $0.69.

In early January 2026, Nokia began withdrawing lawsuits against Hisense in Germany and India, signaling negotiations were nearing conclusion. On January 8, 2026, both parties formally announced a settlement.