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Delhi High Court, in an interim order, has restrained Xiaomi as well as online e-commerce site Flipkart from selling in India handsets of the Chinese mobile maker that run on the technology patented by Ericsson, according to a PTI report.
Flipkart is Xiaomi’s exclusive seller in India.
The court has also restrained Xiaomi or its agents from making, assembling, importing or offering for sale its devices which are infringing the mobile phone technology patented by Ericsson.
Xiaomi India’s head Manu Jain issued a statement late Wednesday saying, “While we haven’t received an official notice from the 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.”
Justice G P Mittal directed the customs authorities to prevent import of Xiaomi phones that are infringing the patents of Ericsson and if any consignment is imported, the same be informed to Ericsson and its objections be decided as per the Intellectual Property Rules.
“I am satisfied that plaintiff (Ericsson) has made out a prima facie case for grant of ad interim injunction in its favour. The balance of convenience also lies in favour of plaintiff and in the absence of an injunction order, plaintiff will suffer irreparable loss and injury,” the court said.
It also issued summons and notice to Xiaomi and Flipkart and directed them to file an affidavit disclosing the number of devices — that are AMR, EDGE and 3G compliant — sold by them in India till date.
India is the second largest market for Xiaomi after China and just last month the company had announced that they were contemplating their first research and development centre in India. The ban could have an adverse impact not only on the ongoing sales of the handsets but also the fate of the millions of smartphone owners who have been invested in the various models from the company.
On Tuesday, during their regular flash sale on Flipkart, 75,000 of the newly launched Redmi notes were sold. Prior to this the company has sold over an estimated 800,000 devices of Redmi 1S and Mi3 through its exclusive partnership with Flipkart with the counting still on. The company's flagship device Mi4 was also slated to hit the Indian market late this year after being a huge success abroad.
They have to also indicate in the affidavit the revenue earned by selling these devices till date.
The court has also appointed three local commissioners to visit the premises of Xiaomi and Flipkart where the devices are stored in order to inspect and collect documents as well as seal the infringing mobiles.
The total fees of the local commissioners, amounting to Rs 3.5 lakh shall be borne by Ericsson apart from travel and stay expenses, it said.
The local commissioners have to submit their report within four weeks, it also said.
The order was passed on the plea of Ericsson that Xiaomi has been violating its eight patents pertaining to AMR, EDGE and 3G technologies in the field of telecommunication.
Ericsson has said that it had invited Xiaomi to use its patented technology by obtaining a licence, but instead of doing so, the Chinese manufacturer launched its devices in India in July 2014.
