Patents are not brand assets The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) recently stated that of all international patent applications submitted through the organization last year, 5,405 of them were from Asia. Huawei's patent applications were , ranking first in the world, setting a record for the number of international patent applications submitted by a company in WIPO history. While cheering for Huawei, it is necessary to understand the relationship between patents and brand equity. Patent, literally means exclusive rights and interests. In fact, it is a protected and exclusive right owned by the originator of an invention. In modern times, a patent is generally a document issued upon application by a government agency or a regional organization representing several countries. This document records the content of the invention and creation, and within a certain period of time (patent protection period, generally an invention patent 20 years for utility model patents and 10 years for design patents), resulting in a legal status - that is, under normal circumstances, others can only implement the patented invention with the permission of the patentee. In my country, patents are divided into three types: invention, utility model and design. In some developed countries, they are divided into invention patents and design patents. Brand Equity is an important new concept that emerged in the field of marketing research and practice in the 1980s. It is a series of assets that are linked to brands, brand names and logos and can increase or decrease the value of the products or services sold by an enterprise. Assets and Liabilities. After the 1990s, David A. Aaker (the originator of brand equity), Jean Noel Kapferer, Kevin Lane Keller, etc. People gradually proposed and improved the concept of consumer-based brand equity CBBE (Customer-Based-Brand-Equity). In China, the term "brand equity" (rather than brand equity) is usually used to refer to Brand Equity. David Icke's "five-star" conceptual model of brand equity believes that brand equity mainly includes five aspects, namely brand loyalty, brand recognition, brand awareness, brand association, and other proprietary assets (such as trademarks, patents, channels relationships, etc.), these assets provide value to consumers and businesses in a variety of ways. With the development of brand asset management, now, in addition to the above aspects, brand assets should also include brand premium ability and brand profitability. In the brand equity pyramid, the two major assets that can ultimately bring huge profits to brand owners and gain more market share are brand loyalty and brand premium capabilities. Brand loyalty and brand premium ability are consequential brand assets, which are the product of the creation of the three major brand assets of brand awareness, recognition, and brand association. Therefore, patents belong to the category of brand assets and are a proprietary asset that can bring rights and interests to the brand.