By Kate Yuan

(JW Insights) Aug 29 -- Chinese leading IC design and IP provider VeriSilicon (芯原) launched the RISC-V Patent Alliance with eight other members at the 3rd Dishui Lake Forum held in Shanghai on August 28.

Dai Weimin, founder, chairman, and president of VeriSilicon, said, “The alliance will learn from the success of other patent alliances, with members committing not to sue each other, putting their own patents together to form a patent pool. If a member of the alliance is sued, the alliance can provide patents from the patent pool to the sued member.”

“The RISC-V Patent Alliance is just the beginning, and the details of how it will operate and play a role need further exploration,” he added.

Founded in 2001, Shanghai-based VeriSilicon provides customers with platform-based, all-around, one-stop custom silicon services and semiconductor IP licensing services leveraging its in-house semiconductor IP.

It went listed on Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2022 and has seven design and R&D centers in China and the US, and 11 sales and customer support offices worldwide, according to its official website.

“Although there have been RISC-V chip products with shipments reaching tens of millions, some RISC-V chips are still in the process of small-scale shipments or advancing towards mass production in high-end applications or automotive fields,” he said.

Dai Weimin emphasized that the Dishui Lake Forum will continue to promote the industrialization and application innovation of domestic RISC-V chips, and boost its industry ecosystem. Between 2011 and 2023, the Songshan Lake Forum promoted domestically developed chips from a total of 79 companies. Now, 94% of them have achieved mass production. “Songshan Lake has become a prominent feature of Dongguan City. In the future, Dishui Lake Forum will also become a highlight of Shanghai’s Lingang New Area,” Dai said.