5G is a transformative leap in telecommunications—bringing faster speeds, greater connectivity, and new innovations. At the core of this evolution are standard essential patents (SEPs), which are critical for implementing 5G standards and enabling access to core technologies across industries.
As 5G networks expand, the management and licensing of SEPs have become critical factors in determining access to the technology, shaping competition, and ensuring fair market practices.
In this report, we provide a detailed view of the 5G SEP landscape—highlighting key players, patent trends, SEP declarations and the dynamics shaping the industry. This report is part of our upcoming Parola Analytics 2025 IOT SEP Landscape Report: 3GPP which covers various wireless protocols such as 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE, NB-IoT, and more.
Huawei leads in 5G SEP declarations
Huawei holds the highest number of declared 5G SEPs, followed by Samsung and Oppo. This is bolstered by leadership in earlier generations, with Huawei also ranking first in 4G, and second to Nokia in 2G and 3G.
Together, Chinese entities (Huawei, Oppo, ZTE, vivo, and Xiaomi) account for over 26,000 declared 5G SEP families. Samsung and LG add more than 12,000. Qualcomm remains the only U.S.-based company in the top 10, while European representation continues through Ericsson and Nokia, which have long been major players in telecom standards.
However, it’s important to note that entities may declare any patent they believe is essential without independent validation. The number of declarations alone doesn’t reflect the true value or relevance of a patent.
5G SEP over-declaration remain a key challenge
The total number of declared 5G SEPs has grown substantially: over 64,000 patent families were declared essential to 5G standards between 2017 and 2024. This is not including patents that have been declared essential in earlier generations and are still essential to 5G.
An EU study found that only 85% of declared 5G SEPs are not essential. Over-declaration skews the patent landscape and complicates licensing.
A more focused 5G SEP landscape
To provide a clearer picture, we built a refined dataset using keyword-based filtering to identify only those patent families that explicitly reference 5G protocol terms and contain at least one granted, declared-essential patent (referred to here as SEP Family).
While still not an accurate measure of relevance of essentiality, the resulting SEP families reflects what we believe is a more focused 5G SEP landscape—excluding earlier-generation patents and declarations that are completely irrelevant and might not specifically disclose 5G technologies. For a more detailed view, download our 5G SEP Landscape Report.
Interestingly, in this refined dataset, Samsung emerges as the top 5G SEP holder. We explore more of the details in our 5G SEP Landscape Report.
Evolution to 6G
While 5G has driven major advances like IoT growth, 6G aims to build a smarter, AI-powered network twith fully immersive experiences.
Nokia identified six key technologies for 6G back in 2020 and has since led in testing and setting 6G standards. Its collaboration with Bosch focuses on precision positioning and sensing for Industry 4.0, while its new 6G Lab in India supports further R&D.
Other major players are also moving early—NVIDIA launched a 6G research platform in 2024. Companies such as Ansys, Keysight, Nokia, and Samsung were among the first to adopt tools such such as the Aerial Omniverse Digital Twin, Aerial CUDA-Accelerated RAN, and Sionna Neural Radio Framework. Samsung has also been at the forefront of 6G standardization.
Samsung, in particular, plays a central role in shaping the 6G roadmap as Chair of the ITU-R 6G Vision Group and is exploring terahertz (THz) for future 6G use.
Download the full 5G SEP Landscape Report
The Parola Analytics 2025 IOT SEP Landscape Report: 3GPP includes a more comprehensive look at the SEP and innovation landscape of 3GPP protocols. This is the first in our series of standard essential patent (SEP) landscape reports for 2025.
Stay tuned for upcoming reports covering SEPs on IEEE protocols: WiFi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, and more.
