Xiaomi Corporation published its first white paper on intellectual property (“IP”). The white paper highlights Xiaomi’s intellectual property successes as well as its technical innovation skills. Xiaomi has currently entered 12 technical research and development domains, including 5G mobile communication technology, big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, and has reached 98 sub-segments. Technological innovation is the driving factor behind Xiaomi’s high degree of internationalisation with IP rights giving support and protection for further technological progress in an effective manner.
Xiaomi has made significant IP breakthroughs in all of these categories. As of September 30, 2021, the Group ranks 13th in the world in 5G self-declared patent families. As of September 30, 2022, Xiaomi had received over 29,000 patents worldwide, encompassing more than 60 nations and regions.
Wang Xiang, Partner and President of Xiaomi Corporation, presented the Group’s IP value proposition for the first time. He emphasised that Xiaomi is committed to providing people with best-in-class technical innovation, protecting intellectual property rights, and giving many options to resolve IP conflicts. The Company’s goal is to establish a win-win, long-term, and sustainable IP collaboration that will ultimately promote technological inclusion for the benefit of a larger community.
The white paper demonstrates the diversified and complicated IP landscape that Chinese firms with worldwide ambitions face. Xiaomi has expanded its worldwide presence by actively reacting to litigation, demonstrating a willingness to collaboration, and pursuing a multilateral win-win approach. Xiaomi has used intellectual property extensively throughout the years to fuel company and technology development.
In response to customer demand, Xiaomi intends to collaborate with global business partners to promote technology inclusion with IP rights in order to empower the larger community and enable everyone across the world to live a better life via creative technology.
Xiaomi’s intellectual property propels business innovation.
Xiaomi has grown its global footprint in more than 100 regions after 12 years of development, fueled by its “Smartphone AIoT” core strategy. Smartphones, smart TVs, smart major home appliances, wearables, and internet services are all part of the Company’s business. Its R&D efforts have been exhibited in fields such as smartphone operating system, imaging, charging, smart TV operating system, AI, and so on.
Using MIUI as an example, strong patent protection encourages MIUI system innovation. Xiaomi has around 7,700 patents globally in terms of MIUI operating system and software functionality as of September 30, 2022. Additionally, the Group holds over 700 patents in smartphone charging technologies, including but not limited to the underlying circuit design, safety management, and transmission optimization.
Patent protection encourages the intrinsic innovation in Xiaomi smartphone imaging technology. As of September 30, 2022, Xiaomi had over 1,000 image technology patents globally. Apart from improving the user experience of Xiaomi’s smartphones, the company also worked to increase its 5G patent portfolio. Xiaomi placed 13th in 5G self-declared patent families at the end of September 2021. As of the end of September 2022, Xiaomi had led and participated in the development of over 260 national, industrial, and group standards, and the industry had acknowledged its technological talents.
Xiaomi’s IP system has resulted in the creation of a diverse set of usage scenarios in its smart living environment. After years of research, the Group possessed over 1,200 AI-related patents worldwide. Xiaomi’s AI call noise reduction technology has been used in over 60 devices, propelling the company’s development.
Xiaomi is dedicated to “Technology for Good”. Xiaomi gradually enhanced accessibility features in its MIUI operating system, propelled by the Group’s technology capabilities. Xiaomi’s haptic technology, ambient sound detection, and text-to-speech technology, for example, are developed for users with vision, hearing, and speech impairments, respectively, allowing more impoverished consumers to benefit from technology’s ease.
IP Empowers Xiaomi’s Global Ambitions
Xiaomi’s IP system was in its infancy in 2013, with the company focused on safeguarding its self-developed technologies and patenting its hardware and MIUI operating system. While focused on Mainland China, the Group expanded into other areas such as Europe. As the Group’s smartphone business grew rapidly, it attracted the attention of patentees all around the world.
Xiaomi expanded its growth in international markets from 2014 to 2019. Xiaomi began in India and Southeast Asia, subsequently expanding into European and Latin American markets. Xiaomi’s intellectual property rights expanded dramatically during this time, with over 2,000 global patent applications. From 2015 forward, the average yearly global patent application was around 6,000.
During that time, Xiaomi was embroiled in a slew of intellectual-property conflicts. Only five months after entering the Indian smartphone market in July 2014, the Group was involved in a patent dispute with global information and communication technology provider Ericsson. Xiaomi and Ericsson reached an amicable settlement in September 2019 after a five-year court battle.
In terms of non-practicing entity charges, BlueSpike, a non-practicing entity, accused Xiaomi in 2013 of infringing on its patent rights on numerous smartphone models. BlueSpike withdrew the complaint, demonstrating how Xiaomi’s intellectual property rights defend its corporate growth initiatives. Xiaomi has also obtained court verdicts against Sisvel, IPCom, and others, helping to create the FRAND (“Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory”) standard in the worldwide intellectual property industry.