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World IP Day 2026 — Recognized Innovator

Joonsoo Lee

  • Director
  • Newracom, Inc.

Recognized for engineering leadership at the company that built Wi-Fi HaLow from standard to silicon. Joonsoo joined Newracom from ETRI as part of the founding engineering team and has spent over 11 years designing the wireless hardware now deployed across IoT, industrial, and smart city applications.

Certificate of Recognition

Top IP Innovator — Wi-Fi HaLow & Wireless Semiconductors · 2026

Newracom Patents (last 5 years)
0 +
First Filing
2015
USPTO Art Unit Focus
2461 / 2416
Role
Director
Presented by InspireIP

World IP Day Recognition Series · 2026

Newracom patents, last 5 years
0 +
Filed in 2025 alone
0 +
Recognition category
0 Networks & Crypto
The Recognition

Building the silicon behind long-range, low-power Wi-Fi

On World IP Day 2026, InspireIP recognizes Joonsoo Lee for his inventor footprint and engineering leadership at Newracom, a fabless semiconductor company focused on Wi-Fi HaLow technology.

The recognition is based on Newracom’s patent activity and public patent records where Joonsoo is named as an inventor. His filings cover aggregated PPDU formats, channel sounding, wake-up receiver preamble detection, QoS management frames, notch filter designs, and harmonic rejection mixers.

Joonsoo holds an MS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Seoul National University and a BS in Computer Science and Engineering from POSTECH. He joined ETRI in 2012 as a researcher working on Wi-Fi technology, and was part of the ETRI team that spun off to form Newracom in 2014. He has been with Newracom for over 11 years, rising from Senior Hardware Design Engineer to Director, working across RTL design, wireless communication standards, and SoC development.

Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah)
Sub-1 GHz Wireless
Wake-Up Receivers
Channel Sounding
RF Transceiver Design
IoT Connectivity
Patent Footprint

A portfolio shaped around making Wi-Fi work for billions of devices

2014–2016

Newracom is founded as a spinoff from ETRI, bringing the institute's entire Wi-Fi research team into a commercial venture. Dr. Sok Kyu Lee, formerly Director at ETRI for over 14 years, leads the company as CEO. Joonsoo Lee joins as a Senior Hardware Design Engineer. Newracom demonstrates 1 km+ communication with its first IEEE 802.11ah SoC, the NRC7191, in a field test in Irvine, California.

2017–2020

50 filings across 2020 alone (30 filings) as Newracom ships the NRC7292, the industry's first 802.11ah-compliant SoC with integrated MCU. The company is recognized as one of the world's top technical contributors to the IEEE 802.11ax standard (2014–2018), wins Best Wi-Fi IoT Product at Wi-Fi Now 2019, and begins commercial deployments with module partners.

2021–2023

The company files 75 patent applications across three years, peaking at 34 filings in 2023. Newracom launches the NRC7394, its next-generation HaLow SoC, and the NRC5294, an ultra-low power SoC capable of coin cell battery operation. The company wins Best Wi-Fi IoT Startup at Wi-Fi Now 2021. Joonsoo is promoted to Director in January 2023.

2024–2025

32 more filings. Newracom's HaLow technology is demonstrated at 106 km range by partner Teledatics. The portfolio expands into aggregated PPDU formats, channel sounding processes, and advanced RF circuit designs for next-generation wireless standards.

Wi-Fi HaLow & Wireless Semiconductors Sector

A small-entity company filing like a much larger one

Newracom is classified by the USPTO as a Small Entity, yet its five-year filing volume of 137 patents sits well above what is typical for fabless semiconductor startups of its size. 

Much of that activity is concentrated in the networks and cryptography art units that protect wireless communication protocols, RF transceiver architectures, and SoC designs for IoT connectivity.

Patents, last 5 years
+
Peak year (2023)
+ Filings
USPTO entity status
Small Entity
Art unit focus
2461 / 2416
"Leading an innovation program is harder than inventing on your own. It means choosing what to file, who to credit, and where to invest, over and over, for years. The leaders we recognize on World IP Day have done that consistently, and built something that compounds."

Sam Zellner

Founder, InspireIP · Inventor · Innovation Leader

About Newracom, Inc.

Spun out of ETRI, powering IoT connectivity worldwide

Founded in 2014 as a spinoff from South Korea’s Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Newracom is a fabless semiconductor company focused on Wi-Fi HaLow System-on-Chip solutions.

Its product line includes HaLow SoCs for long-range, low-power wireless connectivity, including the NRC7394, NRC5294, NRC7292, and NRC4792.

Newracom’s technology serves applications across industrial automation, logistics, smart buildings, agriculture, and medical telemetry. The company was recognized with the Best Wi-Fi IoT Product award at Wi-Fi Now 2019 and Best Wi-Fi IoT Startup in 2021.

IP Day 2027

Know an IP innovator who deserves recognition?

Each year we recognize the inventors and IP leaders behind the portfolios that protect what their companies create. That includes founder-inventors whose contributions often go unmarked. Nominate someone for next year’s list.

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