Seres plans to acquire Wenjie's trademark patents for RMB 2.5 billion
Published On:Jul,04 2024 Hits: 498
According to the announcement of SERES, its holding subsidiary SERES Automotive Co., Ltd. intends to acquire 919 registered or applied text and graphic trademarks of the series "Wenjie" and 44 related design patents held by Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. and its affiliates, with a total purchase price of 2.5 billion yuan.
In response to China News Service, Huawei said that it will transfer the series of trademarks such as "Wenjie" to SERES, and Huawei will continue to support SERES in making and selling "Wenjie". Huawei has always insisted on not making cars, but using leading intelligent connected car technology to continuously help car companies make and sell good cars. Huawei will continue to work with car companies to create excellent smart car products for users and provide the ultimate smart travel experience.
SERES clarified in the announcement that "this transaction will not affect the development of the joint business of the two parties, and the two parties will further deepen their cooperative relationship. Based on the consistency of product and brand market cognition, the relevant target assets of this transaction will be used exclusively for the joint business of the two parties."
Some people in the industry believe that after the transfer of the "Wenjie" trademark, the boundaries between Huaweis Hongmeng Smart Travel and Smart Selection models are clearer. Zhang Xiang, a researcher at the Automotive Industry Innovation Research Center of North China University of Technology and director of the Vodafone Digital Automotive International Cooperation Research Center, said in an interview with China News Service, "This acquisition is a win-win for both SERES and Huawei. Through the acquisition, SERES has mastered the intellectual property rights of Wenjie, and Huawei has obtained funds to do its main business better."
"For Huawei, this acquisition further verifies its strategic statement. Huawei only uses its brand awareness and its mobile phone sales network to help car companies sell cars, but it will not seize the power of car companies and will not use car companies as a foundry."
Zhang Xiang believes that in the long run, SERES will benefit from the transaction. Although the temporary expenditure is as high as 2.5 billion yuan, it needs to sell a lot of cars to make it back, but Wenjie has become a well-known brand in the past two years, and the value of intangible assets has continued to increase. After the acquisition, SERES can reduce the cost of paying trademark fees to Huawei in the long term.