Chinese security software developer Kingsoft, in partnership with smartphone maker Xiaomi, Beijing Zhigu Technology Consulting Services (an entity controlled by Xiaomi’s founder Lei Jun) and other investors, has launched a USD 35 Mn fund to support intellectual property related investments. Kingsoft announced that the investment vehicle, managed by Beijing Zhigu Technology Consulting Services, will operate over a 10-year term; further financial details were not disclosed.<\/p>\n
It is widely understood that the fund was formed in the aftermath of the Qualcomm antitrust investigation by China and the subsequent order requiring Qualcomm to abandon its reverse patent licence arrangement. The reverse patent licence had forbidden all smartphone manufacturers using Qualcomm chips from collecting patent royalties from other Qualcomm clients.<\/p>\n
With the discontinuation of Qualcomm’s reverse patent licensing, Chinese technology companies such as Huawei and ZTE, which hold substantial hardware patents, became positioned to assert those patents against companies such as Xiaomi that hold fewer patents. The fund signals a strategic response: rather than continuing to pay licensing fees for patents that had previously been free to use, Xiaomi and partner companies seek to build their own patent portfolios.<\/p>\n
The fund has been named the Beijing Ruichuang Investment Management Center. As a strategic investment limited partner, Kingsoft has reserved the permanent right to licence the intellectual property held by the fund, the right of first refusal to acquire patents on exit, and the right to lease patents held by the fund.<\/p>\n
Xiaomi is to contribute RMB 30 Mn (USD 4.8 Mn) to the fund, while Kingsoft and Beijing Zhigu Technology Consulting Services are each expected to contribute RMB 10 Mn (USD 1.6 Mn). The balance will be raised from third-party investors.<\/p>\n
This article is for general information and does not constitute legal advice. Readers should consult a qualified attorney before acting on any matter discussed here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kingsoft and Xiaomi have set up a USD 35 million fund to invest in intellectual property in China. The initiative is a response to regulatory changes affecting tech patent strategies, enabling both companies to enhance their IP holdings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":32,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,22,14],"tags":[6997,12831,12830,6994,127,2315,3121],"class_list":["post-17208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-intellectual-property","category-ip-commercialization-licensing","category-patents","tag-beijing-zhigu-technology","tag-china-technology-patents","tag-intellectual-property-investment-fund","tag-kingsoft","tag-patent-licensing","tag-qualcomm","tag-xiaomi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17208"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149729,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17208\/revisions\/149729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bananaip.com\/intellepedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}