China leads global race in key 5G patents: report

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Patents are the window to technology development and a company's market interests. While standard essential patents (SEPs) are the ones so important that everyone in an industry needs to license them while implementing a standardized technology.

According to a report published by IPlytics Platform, Chinese companies account for nearly 34 percent of worldwide applications for key patents related to 5G technology, followed by South Korea at 24 percent and the U.S. and Finland with 14 percent each.

Chinese telecom giant Huawei tops the chart with 1,554 patents, followed by Finish company Nokia, and South Korean company Samsung with 1,427 and 1,316 patents respectively.

Top 5G standard essential patent owners. /IPlytics report

The technology licensing model during 3G and 4G eras has already proved its lucrative capabilities in terms of smartphones and electronic gadgets.

One of the cases you might be familiar with is Qualcomm's patent dispute with U.S. giant Apple.

After a two-year-long legal battle, the San Diego federal court penalized Apple for infringing three patents of Qualcomm, asking the company to pay 31 million U.S. dollars in damages.

Now, the application of 5G technology is expected to go beyond smartphones, reaching automobiles, factories, hospitals, infrastructure, and machinery, which means the scope of patent licensing programs will also be expanded further.

Therefore in the "all-connected 5G era," people who own core technology copyrights will command the "troop" and win the "white war."

The report also revealed the contributions made by various companies to global 5G standards. China's Huawei leads this list as well, with most 5G contributions followed by Ericsson, Nokia, Qualcomm and Samsung.

Top companies submitting technical contributions for 5G standards. /IPlytics report

China also has higher 5G patents as compared to 4G patents, the report said. In the 4G era, China was in line with South Korea, accounting for 22 percent of global 4G patent owners.

Over the past few years, the country has put 5G at the forefront of its technology development strategy. For example, as early as 2016, 5G was mentioned as a "strategic emerging industry" in China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) and as one of the priority areas for development.