The Greater China IP Updates ¡V October 2024

By Lyndon 

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Leading Chinese Companies Share Development Experiences

During the 13th Annual China Intellectual Property Conference that was held in Beijing in September, 2024, leading companies shared their experiences of investing in intellectual property to foster innovative development.  A spokesman from Huawei said that the company had over 140,000 granted patents worldwide due to its focus on research and development.  In 2023, Huawei invested approximately 23.4% of its revenue into R&D, which amounted to US 22.9 billion dollars, and over the past decade, it has cumulatively spent over 1 trillion yuan on R&D spending.  In addition, attention has been paid on maintaining patent quality.  One of the company’s approaches is to establish panels consisting of retired judges, R&D personnel and IP experts to evaluate the quality of patents before submitting applications.  Similar to Huawei, Beijing NAURA Microelectronics Equipment Co. Ltd., a leading semiconductor equipment maker, has also maintained an R&D investment of over 20% annually.  It has accumulated about 8,500 patent applications since its establishment in 2004.  While this quantity may not be considered substantial for a technology enterprise with a 20-year history, the company’s focus has always been on prioritizing quality over quantity.  At the conference, suggestions were made for enhanced national guidance on overseas IP disputes, especially in emerging industries like intelligent vehicles.  China has already taken some steps to assist domestic enterprises in resolving such disputes.  The China National Intellectual Property Administration, the country’s top IP regulator has intensified efforts on training and expert guidance for Chinese enterprises in safeguarding their IP rights abroad.