Xiaomi Corporation, a consumer electronics and smart hardware manufacturing company with smartphones and smart hardware connected by an Internet of Things (“IoT”) platform at its core, has published its first white paper on intellectual property (“IP”). The white paper highlights Xiaomi’s IP successes and its capacity for technological innovation. Xiaomi is doing research and development in 12 areas of technology right now. These include big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and 5G mobile communication technology. Xiaomi’s high level of globalization is primarily driven by technological innovation, with IP rights effectively supporting and protecting ongoing technological progress.
Xiaomi has made significant IP advancements in all of these categories. The Group was ranked 13th globally in 5G self-declared patent families as of September 30, 2021. By September 30, 2022, Xiaomi had acquired over 29,000 patents worldwide, spanning more than 60 nations and regions.
The IP value proposition of the Group was first established by Wang Xiang, Partner and President of Xiaomi Corporation. According to him, Xiaomi is committed to offering people best-in-class technological innovation, upholding IP rights, and offering various options to resolve IP conflicts. The Company wants to establish a long-lasting, mutually beneficial IP partnership that will advance technological inclusion for the good of a larger community.
The white paper demonstrates the complicated and varied IP environment that Chinese businesses with international aspirations must deal with. Xiaomi has been able to grow its global presence by actively responding to lawsuits, expressing openness to collaboration, and working to pursue a multilateral win-win strategy. Xiaomi has applied IP extensively throughout the years to advance business and technology.
In order to empower the larger community and enable everyone around the globe to experience a better life through creative technology, Xiaomi is seeking to collaborate with international business partners to promote technology inclusion with IP rights in response to customer demand.
Xiaomi’s IP Drives Business Innovation
Xiaomi has grown in more than 100 markets around the world. This is thanks to its “Smartphone AIoT” core strategy and 12 years of work. The company’s businesses include smartphones, smart TVs, smart large home appliances, wearables, and internet services. Its research and development efforts were shown in areas like the operating system for smartphones, imaging, charging, the operating system for smart TVs, artificial intelligence, and more.
Using MIUI as an example, strong patent protection helps the MIUI system keep getting better and better. As of September 30, 2022, MIUI and its software functions are protected by more than 7,700 patents worldwide. The Group also has more than 700 patents on charging technology for smartphones. This includes, but is not limited to, the architecture of the underlying circuits, safety management, and transmission optimization.
The Xiaomi smartphone’s camera technology is innovative, and patent protection encourages that. As of September 30, 2022, Xiaomi has more than 1,000 imaging-related patents all over the world. The company also worked to improve Xiaomi’s smartphone experience and add to its 5G patent portfolio. By the end of September 2021, Xiaomi had the 13th most 5G patent families that it had filed for itself. By the end of September 2022, Xiaomi will have led or helped make more than 260 national, industry, and group standards, and the industry will have recognized its technical skills.
In Xiaomi’s smart living ecosystem, a wide range of use cases have been made possible by its IP system. After years of work, the Group had more than 1,200 patents around the world related to AI. The AI call noise reduction technology used in more than 60 Xiaomi products has helped the company grow its business.
“Technology for Good” is important to Xiaomi. Using the Group’s technological skills as a springboard, Xiaomi added accessibility features to its MIUI operating system over time. For example, Xiaomi’s haptic technology, ambient sound recognition, and text-to-speech technology are all made for people who have trouble seeing, hearing, or speaking. This means that more people who aren’t as fortunate can enjoy the benefits of technology.
IP Empowers Xiaomi’s Global Ambitions
In 2013, Xiaomi’s intellectual property (IP) system was just getting started. The company focused on protecting its technology and patenting its hardware and MIUI operating system. While Mainland China was its primary focus, the Group moved into markets outside China, such as Europe. As the Group’s smartphone business multiplied, it caught the attention of patentees worldwide.
From 2014 to 2019, Xiaomi’s growth in international markets sped up. Xiaomi started in India and Southeast Asia and moved slowly into markets in Europe and Latin America. During this time, Xiaomi’s IP rights snowballed, with more than 2,000 global patent applications. From 2015 on, the average number of patent applications worldwide each year was about 6,000.
During that time, Xiaomi had to deal with complex IP disputes. Five months after Xiaomi entered the smartphone market in India in July 2014, the Group was sued by Ericsson over a patent. Ericsson is a global provider of information and communication technology.
After fighting in court for five years, Xiaomi and Ericsson finally agreed in September 2019.
Concerning non-practicing entity claims, BlueSpike, a non-practicing entity, said in 2013 that Xiaomi’s multiple smartphone models broke its patent rights.
BlueSpike ended the lawsuit by dropping it, which shows how Xiaomi’s intellectual property rights protect its efforts to grow its business. Xiaomi has also won court cases against Sisvel, IPCom, and others. This helped establish the FRAND (“Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory”) principle in the global IP field.
Xiaomi has gotten a lot of patents through different means, such as buying patents, getting cross-licenses, and transferring patents. In 2016, Xiaomi and Microsoft grew their partnership around the world. Since 2020, Xiaomi has made significant progress in globalizing IP and has made a lot of progress in intellectual property. As of September 30, 2022, Xiaomi had more than 29,000 patents in more than 60 countries and regions worldwide.
