(Yicai) Jan. 5 -- Chinese smartphone maker Honor and Finnish telecoms giant Nokia signed a new patent cross-license agreement covering both companies' fundamental inventions in fifth-generation and other cellular technologies.

Nokia announced the patent license deal yesterday but did not reveal the terms of the agreement, which are to remain confidential.

"We are delighted to have concluded an amicable patent cross-license agreement with Honor, one of the leading players in the Chinese smartphone market," Nokia's Chief Licensing Officer Mobile Devices Susanna Martikainen said. "It is the fourth major litigation-free smartphone agreement that Nokia has concluded over the past 12 months and highlights once again the strength of Nokia's patent portfolio and decades-long contributions to cellular standards and other technologies."

"As both 5G standard essential patent holder and implementor, Honor highly respects intellectual property rights and strongly believes that reasonable value of IP is important to the development of mobile industry," said Zhou Wenyu, head of global IP at Honor. "The conclusion of the patent cross-license agreement shows Honor's commitment on innovation to enabling a smart life across all scenarios and all channels, for all people."

Nokia is one of the world's major holders of 5G and other cellular technologies. Several Chinese smartphone manufacturers, including Oppo Mobile Telecommunications and Vivo Communication Technology, have had disputes over 5G patents with Nokia.

Last month, a court in Chongqing set the fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory royalty rate for essential 5G patents in China at between 4.341 percent and 5.273 percent, according to the first-instance ruling following a lawsuit that Oppo brought against Nokia, which had been charging as much as 6.82 percent.

Honor is expanding overseas. The Shenzhen-based firm's Chief Executive Zhao Ming said at last year's Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (IFA) show that Europe is Honor's second most important market.

In the first three quarters of last year, Honor's overseas mobile phone shipments jumped over four-fold from a year earlier, with the total export value expected to reach CNY17 billion (USD2.4 billion) in 2023, Vice Chairman Wan Biao said last month.

Editor: Futura Costaglione