There has been a lull in high-profile 5G patent lawsuits since Nokia settled its spat with Samsung at the start of the year, and Ericsson made peace with Apple in December 2022. But patent royalties are particularly important to the two Nordic giants when they are going through difficult financial times, as they are this year – as outlined in a separate article. Ericsson has kicked off the latest round of litigation by suing Chinese giant Lenovo, which acquired the Motorola handset business in 2014. This particular dispute highlights not just the complexity of licensing for 5G standards-essential patents (SEPs), but the added impact of the intensifying technology stand-off between China and the west. Ericsson claims that Lenovo has refused…