IP values and soil conducive to innovation had been established throughout the world.
At present, the global scientific and technological innovation pattern is undergoing profound evolution, and intellectual property rights, as a strategic resource for national development and the core element of international competitiveness, play an increasingly important role, for a technology company, under the tide of digital transformation, patents have also become the core competitiveness of the company.
Among them, Huawei adheres to long-term investment in research and development, and is currently one of the world's largest patent holders. According to Huawei's 2021 annual report, by the end of 2021, Huawei held more than 45,000 valid authorized patents worldwide (more than 110,000). More than 90% of patents are invention patents. Huawei ranked first in the number of patents granted by the State Intellectual Property Office of China and the European Patent Office in 2021, and ranked fifth in the number of patents granted by the USPTO in 2021. In March 2021, Huawei released data saying that the three years of intellectual property revenue in 2019-2021 were between US$1.2 billion and US$1.3 billion.
"Huawei will continue to strengthen basic research and extensively explore basic theoretical issues in communications, computing, artificial intelligence and other fields, and will accumulate high-value patent packages in these fields." Recently, the relevant person in charge of Huawei pointed out in an interview with the "Communication Industry News" (network) all-media reporter that after continuous and massive research and development investment in mainstream technologies in the ICT industry, Huawei has formed high-value patent packages in the three major fields of 5G, WIFI 6, and audio and video on a global scale.
The future begins with assumptions. Without correct assumptions, there is no right direction, no right ideas, theories and strategies. The reason why Huawei has been able to launch innovative products and high-value solutions is that it has officially relied on continuous investment in research and development.
It is reported that Huawei's cumulative R&D expenditure in the past decade has exceeded RMB845 billion, and even in the decline in revenue, Huawei has continued to increase R&D investment, reaching RMB142.7 billion in 2021, accounting for 22.4% of sales revenue.
Solid investment has also brought returns to Huawei, at present, Huawei's innovative achievements in various fields of ICT, especially in various types of intelligent terminals, have been widely used, Huawei in the three major fields of 5G, WIFI 6, audio and video, has formed a high-value patent package in the world.
It is worth mentioning that as the most critical charging link of patents, the licensing of patents should be based on the principles of fairness, reasonableness and non-discrimination to determine a reasonable rate level, only in this way can we achieve both encouraging innovators and benefiting licensees, and achieving balance and healthy development of the industry.
In this regard, the relevant person in charge of Huawei believes that the essence of the patent system is to stimulate innovation, promote technology disclosure and be used fairly and widely by the industry, thereby promoting industrial prosperity and social progress. If the patent fee is too low or the patent fee is not paid, it will curb the innovation of the whole society, and no one is willing to invest in deep research and development; If the patent fee is too high, it will also restrict competition, which is not conducive to the overall development of the industry.
Taking 5G as an example, Huawei has the largest number of patents on 5G applications and has become one of the most important holders of recognized 5G patents, however, in 2021, although Huawei began to collect 5G patent fees, Huawei, which has the most 5G patents, has the lowest fees. According to the data, Ericsson patent fees in 2020 are 1.2 billion US dollars, Nokia patents are 1.4 billion euros, Qualcomm patent fees are 5 billion US dollars, and Huawei's intellectual property revenue in the three years from 2019 to 2021 is 1.2 billion to 1.3 billion US dollars.
"In the past, our intellectual property rights were for self-defense and to ensure the safety of our own business." The relevant person in charge of Huawei pointed out that Huawei is a company based on product revenue, and many product companies in the industry have common ground in intellectual property strategy, Huawei should build a reasonable price benchmark, let the industry use our patented technology fairly and reasonably, while obtaining appropriate research and development returns, it is also conducive to us laying the image of innovators in the international community, we have the foundation of mutual patent cross-licensing, the use of each other's patent technology, can provide better products for the market, and ultimately benefit consumers and customers. As a result, the entire industrial chain has flourished, and intellectual property values and soil conducive to innovation have been established around the world.
Undoubtedly, the statutory rules of patent rights are the right to manufacture, sell and import and export products in the country, China is a big country in the world at the same time as a market power, manufacturing import and export power, Chinese patents have a high intrinsic value, this value needs more licensing and judicial practice to reflect. Respecting and protecting the reasonable value of patents is the only way for a country to move from a manufacturing power to a manufacturing power.
The intellectual property system should have strategic thinking, according to the characteristics of the business, comprehensively use patent protection, technical secrets and other intellectual property protection and authorization mechanisms, and systematically protect the research and innovation achievements of our construction of public standards, factual standards, open source and open ecology.
When it comes to establishing scientific and reasonable intellectual property values, the relevant person in charge of Huawei put forward four major points of focus. First, we must continue to protect the research and innovation results, and actively build high-value patent packages on a global scale; Second, continue to play a role in the security of the global business of the patent protection company; Third, establish the image of Huawei as an innovator through reasonable fees; Fourth, through the construction of partners, select patent pools, patent operating companies to cooperate.
Attached: Minutes of the "Patent Licensing Business Report" issued by Ren Zhengfei, director and CEO of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd
Minutes of the "Patent Licensing Business Report"
Published: March 16, 2022
The essence of the patent system is to stimulate innovation, promote technological openness and be used fairly and widely by the industry, thereby promoting industrial prosperity and social progress; We must establish scientific and reasonable intellectual property values, establish the company's image of innovators, and also benefit the sustainable and quality development of the company.
We must establish scientific and reasonable intellectual property values, first, we must continue to protect the research and innovation results, and actively build high-value patent packages on a global scale; Second, continue to play the role of patents in protecting the security of the company's global business; Third, establish huawei's image as an innovator through reasonable fees; Fourth, through the construction of partners, select patent pools, patent operating companies to cooperate.
In the past, our intellectual property rights were for self-defense and to ensure the safety of our business. Through the accumulation of so many years, high-value patent packages have been formed in several major fields such as 5G, WiFi 6 and audio and video codec, optical transmission, and optical intelligence, and have a certain right to speak. We want to build a reasonable price benchmark, so that the industry can use our patented technology fairly and reasonably, and at the same time obtain appropriate R&D returns, it will also help us to establish an image of innovators in the international community; We use other people's patents and pay reasonably for them, so that we have established intellectual property values and soil around the world that are conducive to innovation.
Patent fees cannot be charged for the sake of fees; It can't be too low, it can be too low, it will curb the innovation of the whole society, no one is willing to invest in research and development, it will form our de facto monopoly, and it will not meet the principle of fairness, reasonableness and non-discrimination required by law. People who invest in research and development expect that the income will be a little more than the investment, and there will be many failures in research and development, and the cost of failure should also be included in the cost, so that everyone will be willing to continue to invest in deep research and development and form a positive cycle. At the same time, we must be prepared to fight a "protracted war," not seek quick victories, and are not afraid of defeat. But charging is not the ultimate goal, the most important thing is that we sort out the relationship between the two sides through communication and negotiation. In the process of negotiation, a team that is good at communication and negotiation is gradually forged. When one day we come to the leading position in the world, we can rationally allocate the value chain, and then the value of you "senior monks" will be reflected.
Second, "guide the way" and "senior monks open the light", share the experience of reading patents, and inspire young people to make rapid breakthroughs.
We must read more patents, disclose our experiences, and lead our R&D personnel to find tips from them. We are not trying to infringe on the patents of others, but to stand on the shoulders of giants. Theory is open in the world, and technological innovation can only be developed on the basis of open sharing, mutual learning, and mutual respect (transaction). We need to make the best products in the world based on available licenses and patent rules, not to work hard without understanding the innovations that others already have, and not to take detours to produce more consumption.
Our young people are very smart, but they are not particularly clear about the overall road signs; And you have been "facing the wall for ten years", reading a lot of other people's patents, as well as our own patents, there will definitely be some insights. You can express your feelings through small videos, live broadcasts, etc. on the "Huang Danian Tea Siwu" platform and the Voice of Hearts community, and point out a road sign for young people. They rushed upwards and stepped on the shoulders of giants. It is more important for you to tell the young people where and what the "giant's shoulders" are, so that they can break through earlier. Some videos and live broadcasts that explain well and have a high click rate can also be given certain rewards, such as giving a medal. Whether the number of medals can be used as one of the reference criteria for your "senior monk" rating can be further explored.
Third, to keep pace with the times to develop intellectual property strategies, to serve the company's business success; Actively explore technical secret licensing models and industrial promotion mechanisms.
We are a company based on product revenue, and we have common points with many product companies in the industry in terms of intellectual property strategy; We have the basis for mutual patent cross-licensing, using each other's patented technology, can provide better products for the market, and ultimately benefit consumers and customers, thus prospering the entire industrial chain. In the process, we have also accumulated experience in patent licensing, litigation and transactions. In the past, when we talked about intellectual property rights, we mainly referred to patents, and mainly standard-related patents. At present, some research and innovation achievements are not suitable for disclosure through patents, and are more suitable for protection in the form of technical secrets, such as material formulations, internal core algorithms, process processes, etc. We must keep pace with the times to formulate intellectual property protection strategies, explore and think about the licensing model and promotion mechanism of technical secrets. In particular, some technical secret achievements, we do not produce and sell related products, may be "shelved", resulting in waste, but also not conducive to the prosperity of the industrial chain, and ultimately affect our own development. We should explore the appropriate licensing model and promotion mechanism, authorize external manufacturers, solve the problem of industrial competitiveness, and exert its commercial value.
Fourth, dare to make breakthroughs and firmly take the road of factual standards; The intellectual property system should have strategic thinking and systematically protect our research and innovation achievements.
We are going fast, everyone can't keep up, but there must also be a law interconnected and interconnected, which is the standard of fact. We are going our own way, and de facto standards have great significance for the future development of our company; In this process, we will have a lot of strategic breakthroughs, these breakthroughs produce research and innovation results in the future is not all to apply for patents, or take technical secret protection, intellectual property experts to think clearly, to look at the whole world, to judge the situation, then you are not a strategist? The intellectual property system should have strategic thinking, according to the characteristics of the business, comprehensively use patent protection, technical secrets and other intellectual property protection and authorization mechanisms, and systematically protect the research and innovation achievements of our construction of public standards, factual standards, open source and open ecology.
Written by: Party Blog Post
EDIT: Bright
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