On October 15, 2021, the twentieth keynote speech of the "Fudan Transnational Corporations and Law Forum" was held successfully online. This speech titled "Respecting and Protecting IP Rights is Indispensable for Innovation" was hosted by Professor YUAN Zhenfu, Vice Dean of Law School and Dean of the School of Intellectual Property of Shanghai University, delivered by Mr LI Xuejun, Chief Officer for IP Protection of Huawei in China, and commented by Professor SHAN Xiaoguang, Dean of Shanghai International College of Intellectual Property, Tongji University.

Mr LI began the speech with an introduction of the basic situation, core business scope and corporate culture of Huawei. Huawei is a world-leading provider of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure and intelligent terminals globally. Its business focuses on developing ICT technology and providing end products, technical solutions and services to ordinary consumers, telecom operators, governments, and industrial customers. Then, Mr LI turned to introduce Huawei's legal business and its Legal Department. Huawei's Legal Department was established in 1995 and is now composed of the Legal Affairs Department and the Intellectual Property Department; both provide legal services to Huawei's branches worldwide. Mr LI proceeded to analyze Huawei's intellectual property (IP) strategy from the perspectives of supporting technological innovation, accumulating high-quality patents and participating in standard-setting activities. According to Mr LI, Huawei spends about 15% of its annual revenue on the research and development of innovative technologies. Huawei has insisted that the patent application needs to serve commercial practice. To ensure the quality of its patents, Huawei has established an internal mechanism of pre-application review. Additionally, Huawei has taken an active role in formulating international standards for frontier technologies such as 5G, participating in the operation and management of international standard-setting organizations, and accumulating core patents such as the standard essential patents. These policies have contributed to the industrial vantage point acquired by Huawei. To conclude, respecting and protecting IP rights has effectively promoted Huawei's technological innovation and thus paved the way for Huawei's success.

In the commenting session, Professor SHAN Xiaoguang shared some insightful comments on several issues of the speech, including Huawei's achievements in the new round of scientific and technological revolution and why the compound knowledge structure is important for young talents specialized in IP. Professor SHAN and Mr LI had an in-depth discussion with the audience in the Q&A session.

On October 22, 2021, the Forum will host the twenty-first keynote speech titled "Intellectual Property Licensing Management for Entertainment Corporates" by ZHANG Hongkai, Chief Law Officer for IP of NBC Universal.