Huawei Technologies Co unveiled the royalty rates for the use of its 5G technologies in smartphones on March 16, as the Chinese tech giant aims to increase transparency over its intellectual property.
The move came as Huawei has become one of the world’s largest patent holders thanks to sustained investments in innovation. At the end of 2020, Huawei had more than 100,000 active patents worldwide.
According to Jason Ding, head of Huawei’s intellectual property rights department, for each multimode 5G smartphone using Huawei’s 5G technologies, the company would receive up to $ 2.5 in royalties. Huawei estimated that it would receive around $ 1.2 billion to $ 1.3 billion in revenue from patent licensing between 2019 and 2021. Meanwhile, Huawei’s total revenue in 2019 reached 858, 8 billion yuan ($ 132.2 billion).
Francis Gurry, former Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, said: “By publishing its license fee structure for 5G standard essential patents, Huawei is promoting the widespread adoption and use of standards designed to ensure interoperability, reliability and transparent competition, while at the same time offering a fair return on investment in research and development ”.
According to a white paper on innovation and intellectual property released on March 16 by the company, from 2010 to 2019, Huawei spent around $ 90 billion on research and development.
The move also came as Huawei faces a series of restrictions from the U.S. government, affecting its smartphone business.
Song Liuping, chief legal officer of Huawei, said Huawei owns more than 10,000 patents in the United States, which bring value to many American companies. As a major contributor of essential patents to 5G standards, the Chinese company is willing to share these technologies with the world.
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