In a world where innovation is the lifeblood of progress, one question looms large: Can openness truly fuel groundbreaking advancements while safeguarding intellectual property? Huawei’s 6th Innovation and Intellectual Property (IP) Forum, held on November 11, 2025, tackled this very dilemma head-on. But here's where it gets controversial—while many companies guard their innovations fiercely, Huawei champions an open approach, sparking debates about the balance between collaboration and competition. And this is the part most people miss: Huawei’s commitment to openness isn’t just rhetoric; it’s deeply embedded in their operations, from patent sharing to open-source initiatives.
At the event, Huawei announced the winners of its biannual 'Top Ten Inventions' award, a celebration of breakthroughs across computing, HarmonyOS, storage, and more. The forum brought together global experts to discuss how openness and IP protection can coexist to drive innovation and societal progress. Here’s the kicker: Huawei’s Chief Legal Officer, Liuping Song, boldly declared, 'Open innovation is in our DNA. We respect others’ IP and fiercely protect our own—patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets alike.'
But let’s dive deeper. In 2024, Huawei’s patent licensing revenue hit a staggering $630 million. Surprisingly, the royalties they’ve paid over the years are nearly triple what they’ve received—a fact that raises eyebrows. Marco Alemán, Assistant Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), praised Huawei as a global leader in innovation, highlighting their 6,600 Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications in 2024, a top spot they’ve held since 2014.
Etienne Sanz de Acedo, CEO of the International Trademark Association, added, 'IP is the universal language that turns innovation into measurable value.' Meanwhile, Ningling Wang, President-elect of the Licensing Executives Society International, urged stakeholders to foster collaboration, reduce barriers, and practice responsible licensing.
Huawei’s contributions to open innovation are nothing short of impressive. In 2024, they published a record-breaking 37,000 patents, submitted over 10,000 technical contributions to standards organizations, and released more than 1,000 academic papers. Their open-source projects, like OpenHarmony and openEuler, saw exponential growth, with OpenHarmony’s source code expanding by 10 million lines and openEuler surpassing 10 million installations.
Here’s a mind-boggling stat: By the end of 2024, over 2.7 billion 5G devices, 1.2 billion Wi-Fi devices, and 3.2 billion multimedia devices were licensed under Huawei’s patents. Even more striking, 48 Fortune Global 500 companies are Huawei licensees. Heiwai Tang, Associate Vice-President of the University of Hong Kong, commended Huawei’s adherence to international IP norms, stating, 'This approach maximizes IP value while nurturing a healthy business ecosystem.'
To further democratize access to innovation, Huawei launched the Chaspark Patent site in June 2024, a free platform for researchers to explore patent information—a resource often too costly for students and small organizations. The latest updates include semantic search and AI summaries, making it even more user-friendly.
The forum also featured insights from industry leaders like Yali Zhu of PatSnap China, Qi Wang of Clarivate, Mattia Fogliacco of Sisvel, and Laurie Fitzgerald of Avanci Vehicle, who shared their experiences in open innovation.
Song concluded with a call to action: 'We’re committed to building an environment that protects innovation and IP, working hand-in-hand with partners to foster constructive IP protection. Together, we can ensure the industry thrives.'
Now, here’s the question for you: Is Huawei’s open innovation model the future, or does it risk diluting the competitive edge that drives technological breakthroughs? Share your thoughts in the comments—let’s spark a conversation!
