Recent engagements spotlight our strong partnerships and expanding footprint in the Chinese market

By Yixiong Zou

Three months ago, Sisvel announced a major new initiative in China, including plans to establish a permanent presence in Shenzhen. This new office in the southern tech hub is coming ever closer to reality, and we look forward to welcoming many of our partners and friends for an official opening in the New Year.

It has been a busy few months of connecting with Sisvel’s longstanding partners in China and executing on our near-term plans for the market. One highlight was President and CEO Mattia Fogliacco’s recent visit to Beijing, where he delivered a keynote address at Huawei's sixth annual Innovation and Intellectual Property Forum and sat down with local media to discuss Sisvel’s plans for the future.

In these public engagements and in our conversations with partners, the message has been clear: Sisvel is at an inflection point, and growing alongside China’s innovation ecosystem is an integral part of our vision.

Measurable impact for Chinese partners

Chinese companies have shot up the ranks of global innovators and are now active and valued participants in global standards-setting. Some of the country’s leading firms have chosen to make their SEPs available through patent pools and are therefore poised to profit from the increasing popularity of these programmes.

In no field is this more apparent than Wi-Fi, as Mattia reminded attendees at the Huawei innovation event. Asian innovators made many essential contributions to the latest versions of the standard, with founding Wi-Fi 6 pool member Huawei leading the charge. Six of the eight licensors in Sisvel’s Wi-Fi 6 programme are headquartered in Asia.

These companies are now benefiting from the market’s rapid take-up of the pool licence offer. HP Inc, Cisco, Netgear and Acer are just a few of the major vendors that have become licensees of Sisvel’s fair and transparent programme. These royalties help to support innovators’ work on the next generation of Wi-Fi – and analysis of technical contributions confirms that Asia remains the centre of gravity for Wi-Fi R&D. In other words, what we call the ‘Inventive Loop’ is operating as intended: the system is working.

Wi-Fi is just one of many examples. Our Cellular IoT programme, for instance, counts China Mobile, Datang, Huawei, Langbo, TCL and ZTE among its participating patent owners – the majority of which, again, are based in Asia.

Establishing permanent China operations

In this context, the decision to establish a new office in Shenzhen is a natural next step for Sisvel. It builds on our existing on-the-ground presence in Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong, giving us an unrivalled footprint across the region and ensuring that our partners are always able to discuss important matters with face to face with senior Sisvel personnel.

Our expansion in Asia continues the course we set in 2022 with the launch of our latest generation of patent pools. Operating these programmes has only reinforced our conviction that Asia-based stakeholders are playing an increasingly central role in both the creation and implementation of technology standards.

As Mattia put it in a recently published interview with Chinese media platform IP Economy:

The establishment of the Shenzhen office is something I am very proud of, but it does not mean a shift in Sisvel’s strategic goals or the way we do business. Over the years, we have been working closely with Chinese companies and the entire Chinese innovation ecosystem. This decision signifies our firmer determination than ever to invest resources in China’s innovation ecosystem.

Pulling in the same direction

Our Shenzhen office will bring us closer to existing clients while building new relationships. It’s not just about presence; it’s about partnership. We are here to work with patent owners, licensees and other stakeholders to build transparent and efficient global licensing solutions.

As Mattia said during the interview:

The Sisvel mission – to power innovation – is well aligned with the path that China’s technology sector is taking. We have noted the April 2025 issuance of the “Guideline on Establishing and Operating Patent Pools” by CNIPA, the Ministry of Science, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, SAMR and other agencies. This policy coincides with the push for “New Quality Productive Forces” in China and reflects the shifts that we’ve seen Chinese companies make towards pool-based licensing. We are more than happy to support this transition however we can.

Sisvel has also been clear about the importance of maintaining a global market for technology, not one divided into regions. A return to an era of split standards would inhibit innovation, drive up costs and reduce consumer choice. Sisvel’s flexible, industry-led licensing solutions can play a vital role in preserving global standards; while our truly global footprint is helping us to identify potential roadblocks to technology dissemination and work through them with companies that operate across borders.

Scaling the “Sisvel Difference”

All this is part of a larger story. Sisvel is in a very strong phase of growth. The business has spent the last two years laying the foundations for an exciting future – redesigning operations, expanding in geographic and strategic scope and investing heavily in the creation of a truly global team.

Our primary goal for the next five years is to become the point of reference for the creation of licensing solutions worldwide. That means scaling what we call the “Sisvel Difference”. We listen to the market, we remain flexible and adaptive, and we lead with transparency. This is what innovators and implementers – from China to Europe to the US – are looking for in a partner. We are building the solutions that the market needs, not forcing the market into a single, rigid box. I look forward to many more discussions with our friends and partners in China about what that will look like in practice.

Yixiong Zou is managing director of Sisvel China