In 2011, Ericsson spearheaded the earliest industry discussions around 5G, scoping out 5G services and requirements. In the ensuing years, we extensively researched and developed the 5G technical concepts that could meet those requirements, first in internal labs and then in real-world environments. As a result, we received many of the early 5G industry awards. Then in May 2016, we filed a landmark 5G patent application, based on years of research and incorporating numerous Ericsson inventions, into a complete architecture for the 5G network standard. In this application, the world’s largest ever in cellular communications, we described the foundation for 5G with a comprehensive view that connected individual inventions into a complete 5G telecommunications network. After that, we drove the development of the 5G standard, building on the 70,000 contributions — thousands more than any other company — that we’ve made to develop cellular standards since 1999. Based on our extensive 5G research investment, we then led the development of commercial 5G networks globally.

The result of all this 5G investment is that, according to the most rigorous patent studies, Ericsson is the lead holder of 5G essential patents. When IP experts looked at companies’ 5G patent declarations and applied an essentiality filter to determine what was actually essential to 5G, they found that Ericsson was in the top spot with 17.6-20.1%. No other company had more than 12%.

Source: Analysis by Robert Stoll, Faegre Drinker, Former USPTO Patent Commissioner. Based on data from Bird & Bird.