Swedish company Ericsson and Chinese giant Lenovo, have reached a settlement in a long-standing patent licensing dispute, agreeing to a multi-year, global patent cross-licence.

The agreement brings an end to a series of legal actions the two companies have initiated against each other across multiple jurisdictions.

The dispute, which primarily focused on the fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms for licensing 4G and 5G wireless technology patents, began in 2023 when Lenovo filed a lawsuit against Ericsson in London, the UK.  

This legal action was one of several filed by either party in various countries, including Brazil, Colombia, and the US.

Cases had been brought both in the US District Court in North Carolina and before the US International Trade Commission (USITC).

As part of the latest settlement agreement, all ongoing lawsuits and administrative proceedings, including those pending before the USITC, will be withdrawn.

While the financial details of the agreement remain undisclosed, Ericsson confirmed that the “financial impacts” of the partial settlement will be recognised starting in the second quarter of 2025.

Although the majority of the dispute has been settled, the companies stated that the remaining issues concerning patent licensing will be resolved through arbitration.

The patent settlement announcement follows a recent trend of high-profile technology patent settlements.

Recently, Amazon and Nokia disclosed the resolution of a separate global patent dispute related to streaming video technology, Reuters reported.

That settlement also included the withdrawal of litigation in the U.S., where Amazon had counter-sued Nokia over alleged infringements of its cloud computing patents.

In September 2024, Lenovo commenced the production of AI servers at its Puducherry facility in India.  

The company also established a new infrastructure research and development (R&D) lab in the Indian city of Bengaluru, positioned as one of its four principal global labs.