Lenovo has quietly bought from NEC a portfolio containing 3,800 patent families, some covering LTE and 3G mobile technologies.

“A strong patent portfolio is a key element for success in the smartphone business,” Ira Blumberg, vice president of Intellectual Property at Lenovo, said in a statement.  “As Lenovo expands its mobile PC Plus business into new markets, this investment shows it is committed to having the IP we need for global success.”

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Lenovo’s patent deal with NEC comes just two weeks after the Chinese computer giant announced it had paid $100 million to Unwired Planet for a portfolio of patents covering LTE and 3G technologies.

Lenovo said that it will continue acquiring intellectual property both through internal advances and from external sources in order to drive its PC Plus business including smartphones and tablets.

Lenovo possibly scored a big coup for its smartphone unit when in January it announced it had purchased Motorola from Google for around $3 billion. As part of that deal, Google retained much of the Motorola Mobility patent portfolio.