Chinese hi-tech giant Huawei announced today that it will charge cell phone makers a royalty for using its patented 5G technology. The company has published a white paper on innovation and intellectual property (IP) at its Shenzhen office, claiming that it has become one of the largest patent holders in the world thanks to its investment in innovation. At the end of 2020, Huawei held more than 100,000 active patents in more than 40,000 patent families around the world, according to the document.
For each multimodal 5G smartphone, the company will require a reasonable royalty rate on the phone’s retail price and a $ 2.5 per-unit royalty cap, said Jason Ding, head of Huawei’s intellectual property rights department. “We want to show the history of our innovation over the past 30 years and our long-term commitment to respecting, protecting and contributing to intellectual property. With this white paper, we want you to better understand how Huawei has become what it is today. “, said Song Liuping, Huawei’s Chief Legal Officer.
In 2008, the World Intellectual Property Organization ranked Huawei in first place in terms of the number of patent applications filed for the first time under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. In 2019, the company ranked second in Europe and 10th in the United States in terms of the number of patents granted. Huawei estimates it will collect $ 1.2 to $ 1.3 billion in patent licensing revenue between 2019 and 2021.