Huawei opposes moves to politicize intellectual property right disputes

Huawei opposes the politicization of intellectual property rights, and will not use its portfolio of patents as a weapon, a spokesman told the media assembled for a press conference at the company's headquarters in Shenzhen on Thursday.

Demanding patent fees is a common business activity and negotiations for these fees should not be politicized, said Song Liuping, the company's chief legal officer. He said that patents are private property protected by law, and patent disputes should be handled through legal proceedings, and not turned into political tools.

Song Liuping, Huawei's chief legal officer, speaks at a press conference about the company's stance toward intellectual property protection on Thursday, June 27, 2019 at the company's headquarters in Shenzhen. [Photo: The official website of Huawei]

The press conference comes shortly after Huawei demanded fees from the American telecommunications firm Verizon for its use of more than 230 of its patents. It is seeking fees of more than 1 billion U.S. dollars. United States Senator Marco Rubio has proposed legislation that would prevent Huawei from asking for patent fees from American companies.

At the press conference, Huawei released a white paper called "Respecting and Protecting Intellectual Property: The Foundation of Innovation". The paper elaborates on the company's IP management practices and the contributions it has made to innovation and IP protection.

[File Photo: VCG]

The paper argues that Huawei is committed to protecting intellectual property rights. It says the company has never engaged in intellectual property theft, nor has it ever been required by a court to pay damages for any such theft.

According to the white paper, Huawei had been granted 87,805 patents by the end of 2018, of which 11,152 are registered in the United States. Since 2015, Huawei has received over 1.4 billion U.S. dollars in licensing revenue.