RISC-V, the open standard instruction set architecture (ISA), is quietly reshaping processor design. By eliminating licensing fees and proprietary restrictions, it has enabled start-ups, researchers and semiconductor newcomers to create custom CPUs and accelerators on a more level playing field. In a landscape long dominated by architectures like ARM and x86, RISC-V offers a welcome shift. According to market analysis house, SNS Insider, the RISC-V market was valued at $1.44bn in 2024, projected to reach $11.50bn by 2032, growing at a compound annual rate of nearly 30%.
However, while the ISA itself is royalty-free, its implementations are not free from legal risks. The architecture may be open, but it exists within a patent-heavy environment, presenting increasing challenges for developers and startups. Many developers are pushing ahead with innovative designs, unaware of the intellectual property complexities that accompany hardware development. If left unaddressed, it could threaten the very openness this movement champions.
As most mainstream chip standards and architectures are predominantly controlled by major commercial entities such as Intel, AMD and ARM, access to high-performance semiconductor designs has increasingly become a matter of strategic concern. Export controls now restrict the sale of advanced chip technologies to China and other countries, aiming to limit their ability to produce cutting-edge semiconductors. In this context, RISC-V has emerged as a particularly attractive alternative, especially for China’s defence and research sectors, because it offers a geopolitically neutral, open-source architecture. According to the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, RISC-V’s openness makes it a strategic choice for building domestic chip capabilities. A 2023 report by The Japan Times revealed that, in response to US sanctions, Chinese defence contractors, state-backed entities and academic institutions invested more than 50 million dollars in RISC-V projects between 2018 and 2023. Today, RISC-V chips are already being used in applications ranging from self-driving cars to artificial intelligence, showing how rapidly the technology is transitioning from research to real-world deployment.
The patent problem
RISC-V’s flexibility is both its greatest strength and its main legal vulnerability. The ISA promotes innovation where designers can customise various aspects of computer architecture, such as memory models, cache coherency, neuro technology, and hardware accelerators to fit their specific needs. However, these areas are also where patent risks frequently arise. Many modern SoCs include features such as hybrid branch predictors, boot-time power gating, and custom interrupt schedulers, which are components that may already be covered by patents held by companies such as Intel, IBM, Qualcomm, or ARM. The issue is: even if an engineer creates their bespoke implementation, they might still unintentionally infringe a patent. In patent law, originality does not shield you from legal action.
Patent filings related to RISC-V have surged in recent years. According to publications from The Japan Times, in China, RISC-V patent publications increased from around 10 in 2018 to approximately 1,061 in 2022, while US filings grew from about 10 to around 2,018 during the same period; see Figure 2. Similarly, Chinese fabless companies account for about 40% of global RISC-V patents, according to industry trackers. Worldwide, filings involving RISC-V have risen by more than 400% between 2018 and 2023, reflecting growing innovation, as well as increased competition and legal risks. Companies such as SiFive, Andes Technology, and Alibaba’s T‑Head are driving these trends, securing patents on microarchitecture innovations like vector units, custom accelerators, and cache management systems. Academic institutions are also entering the IP game, compounding the ecosystem’s legal complexity.
In the GCC, particularly, United Arab Emirates, RISC-V research and chip design are gaining momentum. The Technology Innovation Institute (TII) in Abu Dhabi has played a central role by joining RISC-V International in 2021. Additionally, the Neuromorphic Engineering Lab at the American University of Ras Al Khaimah is pioneering open-source chip design research in the northern emirate. In a notable first for the UAE, the research team successfully taped out an open-source healthcare platform using Google’s SkyWater 130nm process, setting a foundational step for domestic innovation.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is laying the groundwork for a national semiconductor ecosystem that may soon embrace RISC-V. As reported by Arab News in 2024, the Saudi government launched the National Semiconductor Hub (NSH) with a strategic funding commitment of $266m, aiming to incubate 50 fabless chip companies by 2030. While current investments are broad-based and not RISC-V specific, the infrastructure and funding environment are well-positioned to support open-source architectures in future Saudi chip initiatives.
As reviewed by Reuters, the number of RISC-V patents filed during 2018 – 2022 has grown significantly, primarily dominated by the US and China.
The open nature of RISC-V can sometimes gives the wrong impression that “open” automatically means “safe”. But that is not the case. Developers, especially those in universities or startups, need to understand that while the instruction set is free to use, the specific designs built on top of it can still run into patent issues. As RISC-V moves from the lab into commercial products, this misunderstanding can become a serious risk.
Startups are particularly vulnerable. They tend to focus on performance, power efficiency and chip size, but often do not have the legal resources to fully check for intellectual property problems. A clever new memory controller or accelerator can quickly become a liability if it overlaps with an existing patent. That could mean a costly redesign, licensing fees, production delays, or even losing investor confidence. A notable example is the Apple versus Rivos case (2022–2023), which highlighted how even open-source hardware projects can become entangled in serious legal disputes over intellectual property.
Making openness sustainable
For RISC-V to deliver on its promise, the community must evolve, not just technically, but legally. Developers need to treat intellectual property with the same rigour as performance or power efficiency. That means evaluating the originality of designs, considering potential patent overlaps, and building innovations defensibly. There are promising signs of progress. In 2023, nine major Chinese chipmakers, including Alibaba’s T‑Head, StarFive, and VeriSilicon, formed a patent‑sharing alliance, agreeing not to sue one another over RISC-V implementations. This model of cross-licensing offers a path for reducing litigation risk and fostering collaboration.
To extend this model globally, the RISC-V community can form a global patent pool where companies share key patents under fair, low-cost, or royalty-free terms, providing legal clarity for startups and open‑source developers. Another suggestion could be to create a certification scheme for “IP‑safe” RISC-V cores, offering assurance to downstream users and strengthening the ecosystem.
Going forward, RISC-V is one of the most exciting shifts in computing architecture in decades. It provides a democratised route to processor design, challenges the ARM–x86 duopoly, and drives global innovation forward. However, openness alone is not sufficient. To ensure it creates genuine opportunities rather than recreating old barriers, RISC-V must combine technical excellence with legal strategy, shared governance and community accountability. Only then can openness genuinely translate into opportunity and long-term progress.
By Arfan Ghani, Professor of Computer Engineering at the American University of Ras Al Khaimah, and Director, Neuromorphic Engineering Lab, United Arab Emirates
