/PRZWT/From September 11th to 12th, the 14th China Intellectual Property Annual Conference hosted by Intellectual Property Press was held in Beijing. On the afternoon of the 12th, Chris Longman, vice president and legal counsel of Qualcomm, attended the sub-forum of the annual conference "Building the Rule of Law in Intellectual Property: Global Rules and China Solutions" and delivered a keynote speech. Based on Qualcomm's practice and experience, he shared his views and reflections on how innovators can benefit from China's intellectual property ecosystem.
Longman introduced in his speech that this year coincides with the 40th anniversary of Qualcomm's establishment and the 30th anniversary of Qualcomm's cooperation with China Mobile's industry. He emphasized that Qualcomm's DNA is research and development. Whether it was at the beginning of its establishment or today, Qualcomm has always focused on basic research and development. Qualcomm invests about 20% of its revenue in research and development every year, and the cumulative R & D investment has exceeded 100 billion US dollars. For many years, Qualcomm has always relied on the global intellectual property system to protect its innovations.
At present, Qualcomm has more than 160,000 authorized patents and patent applications in the world, and Qualcomm's Chinese invention patent applications and grants have always been at the forefront of foreign companies in China for many years.
In his speech, Longman pointed out that Qualcomm began in the field of wireless communication, and he also introduced that there are three key stages in the technological evolution of mobile communication standards and products - early research, standard development, and commercialization. Longman pointed out that the first two stages, the early research and standard development stage, require a large amount of capital investment, and the return is full of uncertainty. In the third stage, the commercialization stage, usually years after the invention is invented, innovative companies can seek a return on investment through standard-essential patent licenses.
Therefore, full respect for and protection of patent rights is the best way to promote the best technical standards and the technological advancements driven by those standards.
For many innovators who make important contributions to standards development, the potential reward for licensing high-quality patents that are critical to standards is an important consideration that supports and motivates them to take the lead in making significant upfront investments, Longman said. When innovators are fortunate enough to have their inventions adopted by standards organizations, they can rely on the feasibility of patents to reap the rewards. Without such certainty, the commercial basis for investing in R & D in the first place will cease to exist.
"I think China's patent law is increasingly recognising the value of innovation." Mr. Longman added that he was impressed by China's strong determination to strengthen intellectual property protection and its long-term strategic plan to promote innovation and e****mic transformation. "Qualcomm and many other domestic and foreign companies, as well as individual stakeholders in the intellectual property sector, have benefited from these results. Qualcomm continues to expand its IP presence and investment in China. China has always been an important jurisdiction to protect the value of Qualcomm's inventions."
At present, Qualcomm has established deep relationships with many Chinese partners. Longman said that Qualcomm is committed to continuously deepening cooperation to help them achieve greater success in domestic and foreign markets in the upcoming 6G and AI era.
