Dr. Song Liuping’s Statement at the Huawei Press Conference on June 27, 2019
Ladies and gentlemen. Good morning, and welcome.
As a technology company, respecting and protecting intellectual property has always been a core principle of our business.
Over the past 30 years, we have paid more than 6 billion US dollars in royalties to legally implement the IP of other companies. Nearly 80% was paid to American companies.
We invest 10% to 15% of our annual revenue in R&D. Our 10-year investment in R&D is around 73 billion US dollars.
By the end of 2018, Huawei had spent more than 2 billion US dollars on 5G alone. This is more than the total 5G investment from all major equipment vendors in the US and Europe.
The results are clear. Huawei has more than 80,000 patents worldwide. Over 10,000 are US patents.
We share our IP with industry peers through licensing and cross-licensing agreements. We want our technology to create practical value in the marketplace. Since 2015, Huawei has received over 1.4 billion U.S. dollars in licensing revenue.
We also publish many papers on our research achievements. Every year, we submit more than 6,000 contributions to international standards organizations, and we actively contribute to open source communities. These efforts help drive the industry forward.
Disputes over IP are common in international business. Huawei has been on both sides of these disputes. We believe these disputes should not be politicized. Intellectual property is private property, protected by the law, and disputes should be resolved through legal proceedings.
In the past 30 years, no court has ever concluded that Huawei engaged in malicious IP theft, and we have never been required by the court to pay damages for this.
Innovation and IP protection is the cornerstone of Huawei’s business success. Last year we generated more than 100 billion dollars in revenue. None of our key products or technologies are linked to any accusations of IP theft. No company can become a global leader by stealing from others.
We have grown because we invest. Last year alone, we invested 15 billion US dollars in R&D – the fifth largest in the world. We have more than 80,000 R&D engineers that put their hearts and souls into the technology we create.
Huawei fully supports the IPR protection system, both globally and in the United States.
IP is private property, defined by the US Constitution. If politicians use IP as a political tool, they will destroy confidence in the patent protection system. If some governments selectively strip companies of their IP, it will break the foundation of global innovation.
As technology providers, we are all more innovative when we work together. And by working together, we can succeed together. That's the spirit of IPR protection.
Huawei's patent portfolio includes many essential patents for 3G, 4G, and 5G technology. Even though some countries do not buy our products directly, they still use our essential patents, and share in the benefits of the technology we create.
As always, Huawei is ready and willing to share our technology with the world. That includes 5G. It includes US companies and US consumers. Together, we can drive our industry forward and advance technology for all mankind.
Thank you!
