Huawei to charge royalty for use of its patented 5G tech

The company released a white paper on innovation and intellectual property (IP) at its Shenzhen headquarters, stating that it has become one of the world's largest patent holders through sustained investment in innovation. 

By the end of 2020, Huawei held over 100,000 active patents in more than 40,000 patent families worldwide, according to the white paper. 

For every multi-mode 5G smartphone, the company will provide a reasonable percentage royalty rate of the handset selling price, and a per unit royalty cap at $2.5, said Jason Ding, head of Huawei's Intellectual Property Rights Department, Xinhua news agency reported. 

"We want to show the history of our innovation over the past 30 years and our long-term commitment to respecting, protecting, and contributing to IP. With this white paper, we want you to better understand how Huawei has become what it is today," said Huawei's Chief Legal Officer Song Liuping. 

In 2008, the World Intellectual Property Organization listed Huawei as No.1 in terms of number of patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty for the first time. In 2019, the company ranked No.2 in Europe and No.10 in the United States  in terms of the number of patents granted. 

Huawei estimates it will receive about $1.2 to $1.3 billion in revenue from patent licensing between 2019 and 2021, according to Ding.