On July 8, 2026, Ericsson announced that it had reached a settlement with Transsion Holdings (hereinafter "Transsion") regarding their global patent licensing dispute. The parties have withdrawn litigation and related administrative proceedings filed in multiple jurisdictions worldwide, formally bringing to a close the dispute arising from the licensing of standard-essential patents (SEPs).
It is reported that the parties have been engaged in negotiations regarding the licensing of 4G/5G standard-essential patents since 2017, but have consistently failed to agree on FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory) licensing rates. Beginning in November 2025, the dispute over patent licensing fees gradually escalated into three rounds of multi-jurisdictional patent litigation, with filings in Brazil, India, Nigeria, the UPC The Hague Local Division, the UPC Mannheim Local Division, the UPC Paris Local Division, Indonesia, Colombia, Morocco, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and South Africa, among others. This also marked the first public infringement lawsuit in Morocco's history brought by a major standard-essential patent (SEP) holder.
After Ericsson initiated litigation first, Transsion also for the first time actively commenced patent dispute proceedings before the UPC. In March 2026, Transsion filed a counterclaim against Ericsson at the UPC Lisbon Local Division, alleging that Ericsson and its four affiliated companies infringed its European Patent No. EP4123910, which relates to "information indication methods and related products." In addition, Transsion initiated invalidity challenges against multiple Ericsson patents in China. However, with the signing of the settlement agreement by the parties, all of the aforementioned litigation and administrative proceedings will be withdrawn.
Founded in 1876 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is a leading global provider of communications technology and services. Its main businesses include digital services, managed services, and emerging businesses, with products and services covering 5G core networks, 5G RAN, 5G transport, and more. Ericsson currently holds over 60,000 granted patents worldwide.
Transsion is a provider of smart terminal products and mobile internet services, primarily engaged in the research and development, manufacturing, sales, and brand operation of smart terminal products such as mobile phones. Its core markets are concentrated in emerging regions such as Africa and Southeast Asia, where it holds extremely high market shares in multiple countries. To date, Transsion has signed multiple patent licensing agreements with Qualcomm, Nokia, Philips, Ericsson, and the HEVC Advance patent pool, among others.
