Huawei announces royalty rates for patent license programmes

Nairobi

Monday July 24, 2023

KNA by Ian Chepkuto

Huawei has announced royalty rates for its handsets, Wi-Fi, and IoT patent license programmes as part of its broader push to share cutting-edge innovations with the World and support the common, sustainable development of industries globally.

The company currently has existing patent licenses with both leading tech industry players such as Samsung and Oppo, and top automakers, including Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW, Porsche, Subaru, Renault, Lamborghini, and Bentley.

Huawei, a leading global provider of information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices now holds more than 120,000 active patents, and the company has become one of the largest patent holders in the world after decades of heavy investment in research and development.

Under these licenses, Huawei’s total past royalty payments are about three times its royalty collections and its 2022 licensing revenue amounted to $560 million.

Huawei announced royalty rates for 4G and 5G handsets, Wi-Fi 6 devices and Internet of Things (IoT) products. The rate caps for 4G and 5G handsets are US$1.5 per unit and US$2.5 per unit, respectively.

Huawei’s royalty rate for Wi-Fi 6 consumer devices, meanwhile, is US$0.5 per unit. The rate for IoT-Centric devices is one percent of the net selling price, capped at US$0.75, while the rate for IoT-Enhanced devices ranges from US$0.3 to US$1 per unit.

Speaking during the firm’s annual flagship event on innovation and intellectual property protection titled "Bridging Horizons of Innovations: Sharing IP, Driving Innovation," Alan Fan, Vice President and Head of the Intellectual Property Rights at Huawei, said that the company is willing to share cutting-edge innovations in the form of patents with the world.

Huawei’s official licensing website was also launched at the event. This website offers details about the company’s bilateral licensing programmes, ranging from mobile handsets to Wi-Fi and cellular IoT.

"These will support the common, sustainable development of industries globally," he added, noting that over the past 20 years, Huawei has been a major contributor to mainstream ICT standards, such as cellular, Wi-Fi, and multimedia codecs.

Huawei, he explained, is committed to licensing its standard essential patents (SEPs) on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory principles.

To date, Huawei has entered into almost 200 bilateral patent licenses, according to Fan. In addition, over 350 companies have obtained licenses to Huawei’s patents through patent pools.

Under these licenses, Huawei’s total past royalty payment is about three times its total royalty collection, and its 2022 licensing revenue amounted to US$560 million.

It is also an active advocate and supporter of major global open-source industry organisations.

Courtesy ; K. N. A