The National Intellectual Property Administration (NIPA) announced recipients of the 21st China Patent Award, the nation's top award for patents, on Oct 18.

The winners of the 21st China Patent Awards were unveiled on the NIPA’s official website on Oct 18.

Three subsidiaries of Tsinghua Holdings - Unisoc, H3C and Nuctech - were among them.

An invention patent featuring a voice calling service device and method, submitted by Unisoc, won the silver award.

H3C had two award-winning invention patents, including its Route Convergence Method and Equipment, the winner of the award for excellence, and Wireless Access Points, which won the excellence award for its design.

The Waveguide Horn Array and its Method and Antenna system developed by Tsinghua University and Nuctech also won the award for excellence.

The awards have been given annually by NIPA since 1989. It was a move initiated by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and NIPA to guide the protection and application of intellectual property.

It is a national prize given by the Chinese government to award patented inventions and creations.

A group of giants in their corresponding fields - including Huawei, ZTE, China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom, Lenovo, TCL, Xiaomi and semiconductor companies - also competed for the awards.