Huawei’s patents on 5G means US will pay despite Trump’s ban

Huawei, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment vendor, owns the most patents on 5G mobile technology, according to a new study

The company has collected more than US$1.4 billion in licensing revenue, it said in a court filing in its patent dispute with Verizon

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While the Trump administration has moved to curtail Huawei Technologies’ growth outside China, it remains a major player in 5G mobile network roll-outs because of its global footprint and advanced technology. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:46am, 9 Jun 2020Updated: 6:46am, 10 Jun 2020

Huawei Technologies owns the most patents on next-generation 5G mobile technology, ensuring the Chinese company will get paid despite the Trump administration’s efforts to erase it from the supply chain, according to a new study.

The study by two research firms identified the inventions most closely connected to the 5G standards and found that six companies owned more than 80 per cent – Huawei, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Nokia, Ericsson and Qualcomm, the only US-based company in the group.

That may be awkward for US President Donald Trump, whose administration has launched a global effort to shut out Huawei in 5G network roll-outs, accusing the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker of being a security threat. Washington has launched a number of salvoes, including banning the sale of any silicon made with US know-how that is hurting the company’s aspirations to grow in cutting-edge fields.

“Even if they hire some other company to build the 5G infrastructure, they still have to pay the Chinese company because of the intellectual contribution to develop the technology,” said Deepak Syal, director of GreyB Services, a technology research firm that conducted the study with analytics firm Amplified AI.

Identifying how many patents a company holds – and how key they are to the industry standards – will help determine who profits most from 5G technology, which promises to revolutionise developments such as autonomous cars, robotic surgery and connected homes.

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