The event gathered experts in both innovation and intellectual property (IP) to address the importance of driving digital transformation forward openly to advance social progress.

Huawei’s theme this year was advancing innovation with openness, as the company remains steadfast in its commitment to open innovation and turning an idea into actual innovation.

“Open innovation drives society and technology forward and it’s important to us too,” said Huawei’s chief legal officer, Liuping Song, at the event yesterday. “Fundamental research and innovation are the heart of our business. And we are committed to an open approach for both.”

He continued: “Huawei innovates based on two core drivers: science and technology, and our customers’ needs. With this approach, we are working hard to create more value for customers and society.”

The story behind an innovation powerhouse

IP is becoming more important in the technology and telco sectors, given such rapid advancements across the wider industry. A focus on research and development (R&D), combined with the significant role of patents in standardisation, holds significant potential for revenue generation.

Over the past five years, Huawei said it has invested more than 20% of its revenue into R&D alone, and in 2024, the vendor claimed it invested more than 170 billion yuan (US$23.8 billion).

This commitment led to the company holding more than 150,000 active patents at the end of 2024, which helps it fuel innovation worldwide.

Marco Alemán, assistant director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), noted at the event that: “Huawei is a leading global user of WIPO’s Global IP Services and a strong driver of innovation. Huawei had 6,600 published Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications in 2024 and has been the top user of the PCT system since 2014.”

China remains a leader in IP and in the global innovation ecosystem and has advanced very quickly. In particular, the Shenzhen/Guangdong region is ranked #1 for global innovation as a result of fast manufacturing speed and world-class professional services. Combined with Beijing’s strong academic and research capabilities, the country’s success lies in turning ideas into assets.

Within this, Huawei’s R&D commitments have been a strong driver of innovation.

“Long-term investment in innovation, backed by the utmost respect for intellectual property, has been the driving force behind Huawei’s success, and also forms the cornerstone of our vision to build a fully connected, intelligent world,” shared Alan Fan, VP and head of IPR at Huawei.

“Looking forward, with stronger IP systems in China and globally, we are confident that our commitment to R&D and innovation will pave the way for a prosperous future.”

How IP and patents aid innovation

In 2024, Huawei said it published around 37,000 patents, setting a record for the company. Additionally, it submitted more than 10,000 technical contributions to standards organisations, and published over 1,000 academic papers.

By the end of last year, more than 2.7 billion 5G devices had also been licensed under Huawei’s patents, alongside more than 1.2 billion consumer electronic devices and more than 3.2 billion multimedia devices.

Alan Fan emphasised at the event that, as a leading contributor to technology in the ICT sector, Huawei shares its technologies through open-source software, open hardware, patent filings, standard contributions and academic papers.

“Openness significantly improves efficiency and reduces the cost to use technology,” he added. “Our goal is to open up all developer tools and application supporting codes for our devices, cloud services and computing systems.”

The company works alongside licensing platforms to license its patents and obtain licenses for other innovators. This helps to facilitate communication, it said, in addition to striking a value balance between innovators and implementors – whilst also improving technology standardisation.

Ningling Wang, President-elect of the Licensing Executives Society International, said that she encourages “industry leaders, policymakers, researchers and entrepreneurs to foster collaboration, to share knowledge, to reduce barriers and to practice responsible licensing.

“Collaboration with openness is the path forward.”

What’s next for Huawei?

As the world becomes increasingly more connected, computing will continue to become more important than ever before. During this evolution, Huawei said it will remain committed to openness and collaboration in order to accelerate tangible digital progress.

To drive such innovation, Huawei launched its Chaspark Patent in June 2024 for researchers worldwide to search for patent information. Speaking at the event yesterday, the company announced major updates to the patent, including new features like semantic search and AI summary to continue driving progress.

Song stated: “As digital technology evolves, everything will be connected and intelligent. Industries will begin to converge. We are ready to work with all industries to drive this process forward.

“Sharing technology is critical and that’s where IP protection comes into play. We are committed to building an environment that protects innovation and IP and work closely with industry partners to promote constructive IP protection.

“This way, the industry can continue to grow and develop together.”

Huawei also revealed its Top 10 Inventions for the sixth year in a row. Find our coverage HERE.

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