[Brussels, Belgium, March 10, 2014]: Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, is one of the top patent applicants to the European Patent Office (EPO), according to its annual report released on March 6. EPO records show that Huawei filed 1,077 European patent applications with the office in 2013, a reflection of its strong commitment to protecting intellectual property as a means to drive innovation.
In 2013, the EPO received 266,000 patent filings, 1,077 of which were submitted by Huawei. As of December 2013, Huawei was granted a total of 7,300 patents across Europe.
Huawei fully respects the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of other companies and works to ensure that its own innovations are equally protected. To support its continuous contribution of innovative patents to the industry, Huawei invests over 10% of its revenue in research and development (R&D) every year.
“Huawei is one of the top patent owners in the world,” said Cindy Bian, Patent Counsel for the Intellectual Property Rights Department at Huawei. “By the end of 2013, we held over 36,500 granted patents globally, cementing our role as a top applicant in Europe and highlighting our focus on innovation, as well as our commitment to the European business environment.”
Huawei has long been a proactive advocate for strong IP protection and is one of the first Chinese companies to have signed cross-licensing agreements with companies around the world. Huawei spends approximately USD300 million per year to legitimately use patented technologies.
Huawei also proactively cooperates with other enterprises to ensure continuous improvements in IP legal systems across the world. This approach supports initiatives established by the European Union to help companies protect their patents, trademarks and copyrights with a view to strengthen their competitiveness globally.
Regulations brought into effect on January 20, 2013, now allow for European patents to be granted with unitary effect, which guarantees supranational protection for inventions across 25 EU member states, with the exception of Italy and Spain. Huawei welcomes this patent reform as, once established, it will provide a cost-effective way to protect patents in a uniform manner across the majority of EU member states.
The company has advocated a unified IPR licensing system on a global level for years, and calls on enterprises, research institutes, academia and policy makers to work together in order to develop a global platform for innovation.
Huawei actively cooperates with European companies and organisations to achieve breakthrough innovations and is committed to leveraging its global presence and influence to promote innovative cooperation across the world.
For more information on EPO’s annual report, visit: http://www.epo.org/about-us/annual-reports-statistics/annual-report/2013.html
PR Archives: Latest, By Company, By Date