Patent boom trendsetter: Huawei interview
March 11, 2013 | BY
clpstaffSong Liuping, Huawei's Chief Legal Officer, talks about domestic and international patent filings, the company's success and shares his views on the patent boom
What sets Huawei's products apart from other technology companies?
As a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, Huawei attaches great importance to R&D and we are trying in every way to meet the requirements of being a global company. But it is difficult to say what sets our products apart compared to other Chinese companies, because we know there are many other Chinese companies becoming global. 
What are the most common IP issues that Huawei faces?
I think the biggest challenge that we face, and our peers in this industry also face, is the issue of essential patents. The technical communication industry is very reliant on essential patents, which is defined by standards. But the FRAND principle is a high level principle. The application of FRAND, in practice, still needs to be determined by the legal systems of different jurisdictions.
The key issue is how we can develop between compensating patent holders and incentives to develop the industry. We believe that on the one hand, we need to reasonably compensate patent holders for their investment or innovation, but on the other hand, we need to make sure that the essential patents will not be used as a weapon by the competition. I believe that the balance between what benefits the patent holder will get and developing incentives is the key challenge that we are facing and also our industry peers.
Are Huawei's filings increasing or decreasing?
Patent applications in China are growing steadily, with annual applications around 4,000, while applications in the United State and Europe are increasing. Since the accumulated amount of total granted patents and patent applications for Huawei is already very large, our focus in recent years is to improve the quality of our patent portfolio.
Firstly, we are focusing on improving and expanding inventions and on more fundamental technologies. Secondly, we also established a patent review process that will be very helpful to ensure that we improve the quality of our patents.
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| “An enterprise is encouraged to improve or develop a patent when they feel that it will meet their commercial interests” - Song Liuping, Chief Legal Officer, Huawei |
I think it is not very accurate to say that there are many subsidies provided by the government. Those government plans are not mainly in the commercial area, but mainly contribute to research institutes. There are only a very few that are provided to enterprises – the amount is so small that it can be ignored. So Huawei cannot completely say we are not related to those plans, but we can say that the influence is very small compared to our total R&D investments. So I think it is not just in China, but also in other countries like the United States and Europe that has similar plans, and Huawei is also involved and takes a very open attitude to those plans.
How do you feel about the patent boom?
We think it's very normal for different countries to establish different incentives or plans to promote innovation in each country. So as long as it meets our commercial interest and aligns with the social responsibility policies of Huawei then we would get involved in some of the plans.
But Huawei sees the bigger picture as a global company and we are also involved in other country plans, like in Europe or the United States. In regards to the patent boom in China, we believe that it is very natural to have such development for enterprises if they have the need.
An enterprise is encouraged to improve or develop a patent when they feel that it will meet their commercial interests. This is because before the patent has achieved a cash flow, it will only be a cost for the enterprise. So if they have the need, they will develop the patents themselves.
What advice would you give to smaller Chinese companies?
My advice is that we should consider IP rights as a very key asset to the company and should take a very early strategy to develop the patent, or apply inventions and get protection. We know that the patents will take effect five to 10 years after it is applied for, so we need to take a very early strategy and not after we face any challenges or patent disputes.
This interview first appeared as part of March/April cover story of China Law & Practice. Click here to read Patent boom: The cost of doing business
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