OPPO's global patent layout has performed well, ranking among the top 5 in the world in terms of PCT patent applications

Jiwei.com News: On April 7, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released the global patent application data for 2019 under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). China surpassed the United States for the first time to become the world's largest patent application country with nearly 59,000 international patent applications. Compared with 2018, the number of applications increased by as much as 10.6%.

Among the top ten applicants of PCT patent applications, four are Chinese companies. In addition to Huawei, which topped the list with 4,411 applications, OPPO, BOE, and Ping An Technology ranked fifth, sixth, and eighth respectively. Among them, OPPO and Ping An Technology have both improved significantly compared with last year. Ping An Technology ranked among the top 10 for the first time, and OPPO jumped from 17th in 2018 to top 5 in 2019.

In fact, OPPO's global patent layout has performed well in the past year. In the 2019 Patent Index Report released by the European Patent Office last month, OPPO ranked 16th among all applicants with 900 patent applications, second only to Huawei among Chinese companies. According to data from OPPO's official website, as of March 2020, OPPO's global patent applications exceeded 43,000 and the number of global authorizations exceeded 16,000. Among them, the number of invention patent applications exceeded 38,000, accounting for 88% of all patent applications.

From the perspective of the technology fields where global patent applications are concentrated, computer technology has become the most "hot" field in PCT applications with a share of 8.7%, followed by digital communications (7.7%), motors (7%), medical technology (6.9%) and precision measurement (4.7%). Among the top ten technology fields, semiconductors and computer technology were the fastest growing fields in 2019, with year-on-year growth of 12% and 11.9% respectively.

Patent applications from Chinese companies are mainly concentrated in the fields of digital communications, computer technology, and audio-visual technology. Among them, Huawei is actively investing in the 5G field, while OPPO is vigorously developing cost-effective products and has patent layouts in the fields of charging, audio-visual, and communications.

Patent strength is a direct reflection of a company's technological and innovative strength, and is also an important bargaining chip in the fight against competitors. Strong patent strength means a deeper "moat" and stronger bargaining power in negotiations. With the continuous development of technology, patent licensing and licensing are topics that every technology company cannot avoid, and strong patent strength not only means a voice in the market, but also can directly and significantly reduce external patent expenses.

In recent years, OPPO has a clear patent layout strategy, with rapid breakthroughs in 5G, video standards, fast charging, imaging, AI and other fields, based on the present and looking to the future, paving the way for the implementation of OPPO's product strategy. It has gradually shifted from domestic patent layout to global patent layout, and adhered to the principle of landing in the overseas market first and then the difficult market, and marched from countries or regions with low intellectual property thresholds to regions with strict intellectual property protection. It has made steady progress and cooperated with OPPO's global product strategy, and the results are gradually showing.

Feng Ying, senior director of OPPO's intellectual property rights, told Jiwei.com: "We will continue to accelerate and focus on the layout of patents in important overseas countries. We have now formed a layout pattern in important fields such as 5G standard patents, charging technology, imaging, AI, IoT, etc., and will continue to make breakthroughs in key areas such as chips, display technology, and antennas."