Patent agreement between Sisvel and Mitsubishi, and Xiaomi ends long-running Dispute

The continuing SEP ( Standard Essential Patents) argument amongst Sisvel and Mitsubishi, and Xiaomi, has finally come to an end. Within conclusion, Sisvel and Mitsubishi reached an agreement with Xiaomi to resolve all of their UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication Systems) and LTE ( Long Term Evolution) patent cases worldwide. 

Mitsubishi Electric, Sisvel's licensor, and the NPE had challenged Xiaomi throughout Europe. Xiaomi, on the other side, had filed a lawsuit against Sisvel in China's Beijing Intellectual Property Court, requesting a decision of SEP royalty rates.

Xiaomi agreed to a licence with all its patents related to mobile connectivity in the most recent agreement between the two competitors. In conjunction, the businesses stated in a joint press statement that they will drop all of their cases in China, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. 

Approximately 120 patent families constitute Sisvel and Mitsubishi Electric's mobile patent portfolio. Xiaomi has officially been granted a licence to use this patent portfolio.

Through the digital cellular programme, we have merged and licenced different telecommunications licencing programmes for the UMTS and LTE specifications since early 2018, Sisvel explained. Patents from Sisvel and Mitsubishi are included in the portfolio, which totals 82 patent families for the 3G standard. It also includes 107 patents for LTE standard.

The firm expects a licencing cost of 0.35 per device for 3G, Sisvel said. For LTE, however, this cost climbs to 0.53. Licensees should spend a total of 0.88 for both licences. The deal only covers Sisvel and Mitsubishi patents since Xiaomi has not joined the MCP programme. Other MCP licensors' patents are not covered by the memorandum of understanding.

Sisvel has maintained for years that it had been attempting to convince Xiaomi to sign a licencing deal covering its full UMTS and LTE portfolio. Sisvel is also taking legal action against additional companies in the UK, the Netherlands, and Italy, including Oppo and OnePlus.