Huawei Announces 7,000 Patents Last Year... Holds 110,000 Active Patents

Song Liuping, Huawei's Chief Legal Officer, is presenting 11 core invention technologies at the 'Intellectual Property (IP) Creation and Innovation Promotion: Expanding the Landscape of Innovation' forum held at the company's headquarters in Shenzhen, China.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] Global telecommunications equipment company Huawei announced over 7,000 patents last year based on the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), marking the first place in the world for patent filings for five consecutive years. Huawei stated that as a result of investing more than 845 billion yuan (158.2685 trillion KRW) in research and development (R&D) over the past decade, it now holds over 110,000 active patents.

At the forum titled "Creating Intellectual Property (IP) and Driving Innovation: Expanding the Landscape of Innovation," held at Huawei's headquarters in Shenzhen, China, the company unveiled 11 core invention technologies on the 8th. These inventions ranged from adder neural networks that significantly reduce computing power consumption and circuit area while ensuring accuracy, to circuit domains that display optical apertures on optical fibers to accelerate broadband construction while maintaining precision. This year, two inventions jointly ranked 10th, bringing the total number of disclosed inventions to 11.

Song Liuping, Huawei's Chief Legal Officer (CLO), emphasized, "Some of the new inventions are the result of Huawei's long-term investment in research and development and intellectual property protection," adding, "Protecting intellectual property rights (IPR) is protecting innovation."

As of the end of last year, Huawei holds more than 110,000 active patents across over 45,000 patent families. Huawei is the company with the most patents granted in China and also the top filer of patents at the European Patent Office. Additionally, it ranked fifth in the number of new patents granted in the United States.

Alan Fan, head of Huawei's Intellectual Property division, explained, "Huawei's patent value is recognized in mainstream standards such as cellular, Wi-Fi, and audio-video codecs," adding, "Over the past five years, more than 2 billion smartphones have obtained Huawei's 4G and 5G patent licenses, and in the automotive sector, about 8 million connected cars annually utilize Huawei's patented technologies."

In video technology, more than 260 companies and 1 billion devices have acquired Huawei's HEVC license through the patent pool. Discussions are also underway to develop new patent technologies that can rapidly integrate Huawei's patents into over 3 billion Wi-Fi devices shipped annually. Fan stated, "We are also consulting with patent experts and leading patent holders in the industry to offer a joint licensing program for 5G patents."

Meanwhile, as of the end of last year, Huawei's R&D personnel numbered 107,000, accounting for about 54.8% of the total workforce. Furthermore, Huawei invested 142.7 billion yuan (approximately 26.7234 trillion KRW), equivalent to 22.4% of its annual revenue, in research and development last year. The total R&D investment over the past decade has exceeded 845 billion yuan (approximately 158.2685 trillion KRW), the company announced.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.