Huawei Unveils Royalty Rates for Patent License Programs

The Chinese tech giant Huawei named one of the world’s largest patent holders recently made an announcement regarding the royalty rates for its patent license programs covering handsets, Wi-Fi, and IoT technologies. This announcement took place during Huawei’s annual flagship event focused on innovation and intellectual property protection in Shenzhen. The event was themed “Bridging Horizons of Innovations: Sharing IP, Driving Innovation.”

“Huawei is willing to share cutting-edge innovations in the form of patents with the world,” said the company’s Chief Legal Officer, Song Liuping, who added, “These will support the common, sustainable development of industries globally.”

Over the past two decades, Huawei has played a significant role in contributing to mainstream ICT standards, including cellular, Wi-Fi, and multimedia codecs. The event featured informative sessions conducted by experts from various fields, covering technologies applicable to home, on-the-go, and work environments. These sessions included discussions on 5.5G, audio and video technologies, mobile phone advancements such as ten-size adjustable apertures, obstacle detection networks for vehicle safety, and algorithms for intelligent production scheduling and optimization.

Huawei is committed to licensing its standard essential patents (SEPs) on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) principles. The event also saw Huawei announcing royalty rates for 4G and 5G handsets, Wi-Fi 6 devices, and Internet of Things (IoT) products, all areas where Huawei is a top SEP owner. 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. For IoT, 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.

“Huawei takes a balanced approach to patent licensing. We believe reasonable royalty rates will incentivize both the creation and adoption of innovations.” he said.

“As we continue to tackle global challenges and work towards rescuing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), conducive policies and frameworks are essential to help innovations ecosystems flourish.” Lamanauskas added.