Patent Portfolio

• Investment: We have been an endeavored and leading contributor to the development of telecommunication standards and other technologies. Consistent with our focus on independent innovation, we have always regarded our patent portfolio as an important achievement of our significant investments in R&D and as a key asset supporting our ability to bring the fruits of our innovation to society.

• Management: The value of our unremitting technical contributions is enhanced by our significant capital investment, our focus on cultivating world-class technical talent, and our sophisticated IP management systems. In the last five years, our R&D investment has approached more than 21% of our global revenue. In the same period, we have hired more than 30,000 outstanding technical contributors, including engineers specializing in telecommunication technology development and other technical disciplines, and our IP department has developed robust IP management systems tailored to our own characteristics.

• Results: As a result of this intensive focus, we have built a strong patent portfolio. Until the end of 2023, ZTE holds more than 44,000 granted patents and has filed patent applications in more than 55 countries and regions. 

• Standard Essential Patents: In particular, we have built one of the world's largest portfolios of telecommunications Standard Essential Patents (SEPs). The China Academy of Information and Communication Technology (CAICT) ranked us the fourth globally as measured by the number of declared 5G SEPs disclosed to ETSI. Today our strong and broad 5G SEP portfolio covers E-UTRAN, network architecture, codecs, MIMO, LDPC, NB-IoT, SL, NTNSR, positions, and other key telecommunication technologies.