The Delhi High Court on Monday granted an ex parte injunction against Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi for allegedly infringing upon eight patents pertaining to AMR, EDGE and 3G technologies, held by Ericsson. The court has asked both Xiaomi and its exclusive partner in India – Flipkart.com to stop the import and sale of Xiaomi phones till February 5, 2015 when it will hear Ericsson’s petition again.
ex parte injunction
Commanding, directing, or restraining court order granted after hearing only one party in matters of great urgency, without notice to the defendant or other parties. A full hearing with notice to all concerned parties is then held on a later date.
- BusinessDictionary.com
As per the court ruling, Ericsson’s claim of Xiaomi infringing upon eight of its registered standard essential patents makes a prima facie case for an interim injunction. As a result, the court has directed the Central Board of Excise and Customs to stop any imports of Xiaomi’s mobiles, handsets, devices and tablets.
Ericsson alleges that it has been in discussions with Xiaomi regarding the said patents for the past three years. It was forced to take the legal route due to Xiaomi’s non-compliance in the matter. The company released the following statement from its side -
Ericsson’s commitment to the global support of technology and innovation is undisputed. It is unfair for Xiaomi to benefit from our substantial R&D investment without paying a reasonable licensee fee for our technology.
After more than 3 years of attempts to engage in a licensing conversation in good faith, for products compliant with the GSM, EDGE, and UMTS/WCDMA standards Xiaomi continues to refuse to respond in any way regarding a fair license to Ericsson’s intellectual property on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. Ericsson, as a last resort, had to take legal action.
To continue investing in research and enabling the development of new ideas, new standards and new platforms to the industry, we must obtain a fair return on our R&D investments. We look forward to working with Xiaomi to reach a mutually fair and reasonable conclusion, just as we do with all of our licensees.
On the other hand, Xiaomi India head Manu Jain said that the company was yet to receive the court order. On being contacted by The Economic Times, he said
While we haven’t received an official notice from the Delhi High Court, our legal team is currently evaluating the situation based on the information we have. India is a very important market for Xiaomi and we will respond promptly as needed and in full compliance with Indian laws. Moreover, we are open to working with Ericsson to resolve this matter amicably.
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