China's 6G patent applications are far ahead, and satellite communication technology attracts attention

On April 26, it was reported that the Intellectual Property Development Research Center of the State Intellectual Property Office held a series of theme activities for the 2021 National Intellectual Property Publicity Week, and held the "6G Communication Industry Intellectual Property Research Achievements Presentation Conference". The "6G Communication Technology Report on the State of Patent Development.

The "Report" shows that the number of global patent applications in the global 6G communications field exceeds 38,000, of which 25,509 are in the field of satellite communications technology. The number of patent applications from our country is the largest, reaching 9,159, accounting for 31%.

It is reported that the curtain of 6G R&D in my country and even in the world has been opened, and they are all rushing to seize the strategic 6G technology highland. For example, Nokia Finland released the world's first 6G white paper before, and the United States also started 6G research in 2018 and took the lead in research on integrated air, space and Haiti communications.

my country has launched 6G research and development in an all-round way. As early as November 2019, the Ministry of Science and Technology launched the 6G technology research and development IMT-2030 promotion group with the participation of 37 industry-university-research institutions, and held several seminars.

In addition, ITU and 3GPP, related standards organizations in the communications field, have also given a planned timetable for the formulation of 6G-related standards. All this shows that 6G research and development is imminent. However, the "Report" also pointed out that although my country's applications contributed more than 30%, China's innovation subjects did not occupy an advantageous position.

In addition, the top ten applicants in the global application volume include NEC Corporation of Japan, Daewoo Communications Corporation of South Korea, Mitsubishi Electronics Corporation of Japan, Korea Telecom Research Institute, Samsung Electronics of South Korea, Husse Network Systems Corporation of the United States, NTT Corporation of Japan, and the United States Qualcomm and Satellite Communications. These are professional communication vendors and research institutions, while only one university in China ranks eighth in the world for applications from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of my country. Manufacturers, operators, and scientific research institutions are absent.

In other words, although my country occupies an absolute dominant position in the number of patents, there is actually no enterprise-type innovation subject. However, the good news is that domestic universities and scientific research institutions are leading the basic R&D and innovation of 6G communication technology, and they have taken the lead in some areas.

Specifically, the "Report" further analyzes the development of the four key technology patents of 6G communications, including terahertz technology, air-space-sea integration technology, deterministic network technology, and AI-based air interface technology.

Terahertz technology has a total of 7,737 global patent applications involving terahertz technology, with the largest number of terahertz technology patent applications from my country (3118, about 3634, and only 1585 in the United States), accounting for 40% of the total global patent applications .

Air-space-Haitian integration technology The important development direction of 6G communication is to build a global connection that integrates terrestrial communication networks, satellite communication networks, and deep-sea and ocean-going networks. Among them, the total number of global patent applications in the field of satellite communication technology is 25509, and the number of patent applications from China is the largest, reaching 9159, accounting for 31%.

Deterministic network technology The deterministic network technology with high reliability and low latency will mature and be widely used in the 6G era. The total number of global patent applications in the deterministic network field is 1034. The United States has obvious advantages in deterministic network technology, with the largest number of patent applications (573), accounting for 55% of the total global patent applications.

Regarding the current situation, the "Report" gives five suggestions:

(1) Give full play to its own advantages and strengthen the creation and reserve of independent intellectual property rights

(2) Pay attention to foreign first-mover advantage technologies, and dig deep into their own potential R&D capabilities

(3) Integrate advantageous resources of domestic production, education and research, and promote the transformation of patent achievements

(4) Promote international cooperation in the field of intellectual property rights and reduce technological dependence

(5) Combining patents and open source to create a good technological ecological environment

The editor reminds me that the current 6G R&D is in its infancy. The main role of the "Report" is to clarify the status quo and find the goal. We welcome all friends to discuss, but please don't cause war or even attack domestic manufacturers. Our goal is to recognize the gap and stand up. Chasing, expressing one's position with practical actions, not just cheating.

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