Oppo and Nokia shake hands: the patent dispute is over

The signatures are in place: smartphone manufacturer Oppo (including OnePlus) has concluded a joint agreement with Nokia for global patent licences. This involves patents in the 5G area and other mobile phone technologies. The two companies have not disclosed the exact terms of the agreement.

Jenni Lukander, President of Nokia Technologies mentioned after the agreement that the company was concerned about the financial stability of its licence business. The licence fees demanded by Nokia were probably too high for Oppo. In any case, Oppo preferred to gradually withdraw from Europe. While court bans on the sale of Oppo and OnePlus smartphones were issued in Germany, for example, the Swiss distributor of Oppo devices also ceased operations in October 2023.

Now the two parties have come to an agreement. Feng Ying, Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Oppo, explains: "Oppo remains committed to reasonable licence fees and a long-term approach to intellectual property (...)." Although Oppo must also pay the licence fees that the company paused during the dispute, all previous legal disputes will be discontinued with immediate effect.

It is still unclear how Oppo will position itself in the near future. Both the sales stop in Germany and the distribution of the products in Switzerland have not yet received an update. This will hopefully change soon, as the regular smartphones from Oppo and OnePlus also have their strengths and are interesting competitors for our big players here in Europe. The global best list 2023 has just caused a lively discussion.

The devices from Oppo are among my personal favourites and I look forward to providing you with future product tests on exceptional smartphones such as the Oppo Find N3 Flip or the OnePlus Open. So far, I've only been able to do news on the folding phones.