It’s no secret that patents play a significant role in enabling multinational corporations to compete on the international stage. Telecom vendors realize that to be competitive, they need to be innovative not only in product design, branding and service delivery, but also in their intellectual property strategy.
Wang Haibo, director of intellectual property and vice director of the law department at ZTE, tells Telecomasia.net how its IP strategy has played a strategic role in the company's overseas expansion and how it has become an essential element in transforming the company from a follower to a global leader in the telecom industry.
Telecomasia.net: What is ZTE’s IP strategy and how does this help secure the company’s business profitability?
Wang Haibo: One of the key objectives of our IP strategy is to align with ZTE’s global business strategy and support our core businesses and the goal of delivering integrated solutions to customers worldwide. Another objective is to help secure and protect ZTE’s business profitability across the world. Against this backdrop, we ensure respect for rights, including those of competitors.
Our IP strategy overall comprises patents, trademarks, copyrights, designs, and business secrets, etc. Geographically, our IP deployment is not only focused on China but also covers other countries.
Aside from quantity, we are also concerned about the quality of our IP. We can glean this from the composition of our patent applications portfolio. So far, ZTE has over 40,000 patent filings (including pending applications) at home and abroad. Of these, more than 90% patents are invention-related, including numerous basic patents covering international telecom technical standards and core patents covering key telecom technologies.
We have won several patent awards, including four China Patent Gold Awards, 12 China Patent Awards of Excellence, co-awarded by the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) and the World Intellectual Property Office. Domestically we also won four Major Invention Awards in China’s information industry. We are the only telecom vendor in the country that has received such awards, which says a lot about the quality of our patents.