Context: Tulip Innovation has made a name for itself in recent years as the third-party administrator licensing a portfolio of around 5,000 battery-related patents on behalf of LG Energy Solution (LGES) and Panasonic (June 10, 2026 ip fray article).
What’s new: Major patent holders Canon and Sony from Japan, and Huawei and Oppo from China, have joined forces with Tulip Innovation’s parent company, Tulip Licensing, to establish a new program for monetizing their imaging patents.
Direct impact: Named Tulip Imaging, the newly launched program will manage a combined portfolio of over 125,000 patents relevant to advanced digital imaging and information processing. In a press release, Tulip said that prospective licensees will be able to “tailor” agreements “to include patents relevant to their specific products, technologies, and business needs”.
Wider ramifications: This looks like a major vote of confidence in the Tulip team after its maiden campaign enforcing the LGES and Panasonic battery portfolio. Bringing together four such significant names from the Chinese and Japanese tech industries is no small feat. Given Tulip’s track record in litigating the battery patents across multiple jurisdictions—including China, Germany, South Korea, and the U.S.—there’s a good chance that Tulip’s imaging portfolio will also begin to appear on dockets around the globe in the coming months.
Tulip Innovation (now referred to as Tulip Battery on the firm’s revamped website) was launched in May 2024 to enforce a pool of around 5,000 patents from LGES and Panasonic.
That program covers cathode, anode, separator, and electrode technologies, all of which are core to the lithium-ion battery cells used in electric vehicles, renewable energy storage systems, and various other categories – including power tools (July 23, 2026 ip fray article).
In a press release announcing today’s launch of Tulip Imaging, Hideki Sanatake, Managing Executive Officer, Group Executive of Corporate Intellectual Property and Legal Headquarters, Canon, said the program “is an opportunity to support the continued investment that drives future breakthroughs”.
Yuko Tsuda, Representative Director & President of Sony Intellectual Property Services, added:
“Broad access to innovation should be supported by efficient, transparent licensing, and Tulip provides a viable option for achieving that objective.”
Alan Fan, Chief IP Officer of Huawei, said:
“With this milestone cooperation with leading partners, we are jointly opening up our once-proprietary imaging technologies to help our licensees provide vivid imaging experiences to everyone.”
Adler Feng, Chief IP Officer of Oppo, said:
“[His company’s] collaboration with leading innovators across the imaging industry reflects the strength of Oppo’s imaging technology innovation and underscores our commitment to building a healthy and sustainable intellectual property ecosystem to support continued innovation and industry growth.”