Canada-based 
Huawei patent manager Andrew Woodard admitted — in an email — to obscuring his lack of technical expertise to access an influential global body that sets the standards for Wi-Fi technology.
Woodard wrote to his Huawei colleague Edward Au that he was quitting a group of experts that decides technological standards for Wi-Fi connectivity, as he wasn’t qualified for the role, and that his involvement could be perceived as “stuffing the ballot box” in group voting. Huawei claimed it had begun an inquiry into the matter.
The incident puts the spotlight on Huawei and its work at IEEE, a US-based standards-setting group that is a key battleground in the global tech race between the US, China and other regions.
Patent holders like Huawei and its close competitors Nokia, Ericsson and Qualcomm have an interest in steering IEEE votes so their proprietary technology is included in the standards.
“I successfully hid my IPR [intellectual property rights] status in Madrid, but who knows how long I can succeed with that?” Woodard wrote to Au, who chairs one of the groups at the IEEE.
The IEEE gathers engineers, scientists and professionals to write the rules on how tech products work together. Several of its working groups came together at a plenary meeting in Madrid in July. The non-profit industry organization is set up to be a neutral ground for industry exchanges, but its working groups effectively get to decide on which company’s technology is adopted by the rest of the world — decisions that carry both commercial and strategic significance.
“I can’t keep ‘forgetting my business card’ forever,” Woodard quipped, saying that someone from a rival firm could expose him for not having a legitimate role in the standards-setting group.
IEEE has confirmed it’s aware of a potential violation of its policies and procedures, and its Standards Association has initiated an investigation into the matter.
In the email, sent Nov 10, Woodard said a superior had told him to leave working group 802.11, which decides on standards used by Wi-Fi technology to connect to the internet. The email was published on IEEE’s website as customary for exchanges between members, but was later removed.
“My new director ... is putting a stop to my participation in 802.11,” Woodard wrote to Au. “She believes the risk is too great for exposure that Huawei is putting patent counsel ... into 802 and trying to give him voting rights and direct ability to make comments on draft text. I’m neither a lawyer nor a registered agent, just in the job function of one.”
“The optics” of Woodard's being involved in the work "is that I have no way of contributing technically since I am not a research engineer,” he wrote. “My only possible agenda is to get draft text to align with our [intellectual property rights] by ‘stuffing their ballot box.’”
The standards organization's working groups make decisions based on the votes of individual members. Members get voting rights by taking part in a certain number of plenary sessions where the voting takes place.
Woodard was yet to gain full voter status and was labeled as an “aspirant” in an earlier version of an online list, which was updated to delete his name on Nov 25. In his email he referred to a plenary session in Madrid that he took part in earlier this year.
A LinkedIn profile listed as Andrew W. suggests Woodard has been a “patent portfolio manager for Wi-Fi and Photonics” at Huawei in Canada since 2019. The profile links to IEEE's 802.11 group and says the person has an “emphasis on monetization of standard essential patents,” or SEPs — the patents that all companies need to have to be able to connect to the internet.
“If you manage to get intellectual property into what’s called standard essential patents ... for instance, in 5G, every single time that a 5G enabled device is sold, the companies who have intellectual property within that standard tend to be paid royalties.”
politico.eu/article/huawei
Huawei patent manager Andrew Woodard admitted — in an email — to obscuring his lack of technical expertise to access an influential global body that sets the standards for Wi-Fi technology.
Woodard wrote to his Huawei colleague Edward Au that he was quitting a group of experts that decides technological standards for Wi-Fi connectivity, as he wasn’t qualified for the role, and that his involvement could be perceived as “stuffing the ballot box” in group voting. Huawei claimed it had begun an inquiry into the matter.
The incident puts the spotlight on Huawei and its work at IEEE, a US-based standards-setting group that is a key battleground in the global tech race between the US, China and other regions.
Patent holders like Huawei and its close competitors Nokia, Ericsson and Qualcomm have an interest in steering IEEE votes so their proprietary technology is included in the standards.
“I successfully hid my IPR [intellectual property rights] status in Madrid, but who knows how long I can succeed with that?” Woodard wrote to Au, who chairs one of the groups at the IEEE.
The IEEE gathers engineers, scientists and professionals to write the rules on how tech products work together. Several of its working groups came together at a plenary meeting in Madrid in July. The non-profit industry organization is set up to be a neutral ground for industry exchanges, but its working groups effectively get to decide on which company’s technology is adopted by the rest of the world — decisions that carry both commercial and strategic significance.
“I can’t keep ‘forgetting my business card’ forever,” Woodard quipped, saying that someone from a rival firm could expose him for not having a legitimate role in the standards-setting group.
IEEE has confirmed it’s aware of a potential violation of its policies and procedures, and its Standards Association has initiated an investigation into the matter.
In the email, sent Nov 10, Woodard said a superior had told him to leave working group 802.11, which decides on standards used by Wi-Fi technology to connect to the internet. The email was published on IEEE’s website as customary for exchanges between members, but was later removed.
“My new director ... is putting a stop to my participation in 802.11,” Woodard wrote to Au. “She believes the risk is too great for exposure that Huawei is putting patent counsel ... into 802 and trying to give him voting rights and direct ability to make comments on draft text. I’m neither a lawyer nor a registered agent, just in the job function of one.”
“The optics” of Woodard's being involved in the work "is that I have no way of contributing technically since I am not a research engineer,” he wrote. “My only possible agenda is to get draft text to align with our [intellectual property rights] by ‘stuffing their ballot box.’”
The standards organization's working groups make decisions based on the votes of individual members. Members get voting rights by taking part in a certain number of plenary sessions where the voting takes place.
Woodard was yet to gain full voter status and was labeled as an “aspirant” in an earlier version of an online list, which was updated to delete his name on Nov 25. In his email he referred to a plenary session in Madrid that he took part in earlier this year.
A LinkedIn profile listed as Andrew W. suggests Woodard has been a “patent portfolio manager for Wi-Fi and Photonics” at Huawei in Canada since 2019. The profile links to IEEE's 802.11 group and says the person has an “emphasis on monetization of standard essential patents,” or SEPs — the patents that all companies need to have to be able to connect to the internet.
“If you manage to get intellectual property into what’s called standard essential patents ... for instance, in 5G, every single time that a 5G enabled device is sold, the companies who have intellectual property within that standard tend to be paid royalties.”
politico.eu/article/huawei