Huawei Leads in Patent Applications

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Huawei filed the largest number of patent applications among all companies with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialized agency of UN, worldwide in 2018, and industry insiders said that continuous investment in R&D and a focus on new technologies is helping China forge ahead in global patent applications.

The Shenzhen-based company — the world's largest telecoms equipment provider — filed a record 5,405 patents in 2018, the highest among corporate filers, the WIPO said in a report released on Tuesday. Next came Japan-based Mitsubishi Electric Corp, followed by US technology giants Intel and Qualcomm.

Huawei invests about $15-20 billion in R&D annually, ranking in the top five among global companies, company founder Ren Zhengfei said during a group interview in January.

"We have obtained 87,805 licensed patents, of which 11,152 are core technology patents in the US, and we have participated in more than 360 standards organizations and contributed over 54,000 proposals," he said, explaining why Huawei is competitive in the telecom industry.

"China accounts for about 10 percent of all 5G-related patents, which is also in line with the government's ambitions in leading the 5G era," Li Zhen, an industry expert at Beijing-based CCID Consulting, said in explaining why the number of patent filings by Chinese companies surged in 2018.

According to the latest figures intellectual property tracker IPlytics GmbH published in February, Huawei holds 1,529 5G standard essential patents, ahead of Nokia, which holds 1,397. Samsung has 1,296 and Ericsson holds 812, the analyst noted.

- Global Times