Huawei and Tencent
Posted on 11/04/2023 5:36:54 PM PDT by FarCenter
TOKYO -- China's presence is growing in cybersecurity technology, with companies such as Huawei and Tencent accounting for six of the top 10 global patent holdings in the sector as of August.
Chinese companies have made headway in technological fields that affect economic security, according to industry insiders, as they focus on fostering their own tech amid the growing standoff between the U.S. and China.
The rankings, compiled by Nikkei in cooperation with U.S. information services provider LexisNexis, are based on patents registered in 95 countries and regions, including Japan, the U.S., China and the European Union. Patent registrations were screened for the cybersecurity field using such factors as the international patent classification, with filings of the same patent in multiple countries counted as a single patent.
As of August, IBM led the rankings with 6,363 patents. Huawei Technologies came in second with 5,735 patents and Tencent Holdings placed third with 4,803.
Other Chinese companies in the top 10 included financial services provider Ant Group in sixth with 3,922 patents, followed by power transmission company State Grid Corp. of China with 3,696, Alibaba Group Holding with 3,122 and sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp. with 3,042.
Patent applications filed by Chinese companies have increased since around 2018, when the U.S. began to impose full-scale export controls on Chinese high-tech companies. Compared with 10 years ago, IBM's patent holdings increased by a factor of 1.5. In contrast, holdings for Huawei and Tencent were 2.3 times and 13 times higher, respectively.
"We've seen a dramatic increase in filings by Chinese firms in general, especially since 2018," said Hiroko Osaka, head of marketing in Asia for LexisNexis Japan's intellectual property department.
In 2018, the U.S. administration of Donald Trump imposed additional tariffs on Chinese advanced technology products.
"The importance of IP protection was reaffirmed in the battle for supremacy over advanced technology and data, which may have sparked the surge of application filings by Chinese firms," said Osaka.
Imagine that. China suddenly cares about IP and patents.
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