Delhi HC stops OnePlus sales on Micromax plea
Micromax complained that by launching its phones on 2 December, OnePlus had infringed its exclusive rights under the agreement with Cyanogen
New Delhi: Ahead of the launch of its YU Cyanogen phone in India on 18 December, Gurgaon-based consumer electronics manufacturer Micromax Informatics Ltd on Tuesday secured a temporary injunction from the Delhi high court against rival Chinese phone maker Shenzhen OnePlus Technology Co. Ltd.
The court restrained OnePlus from marketing, selling and shipping its OnePlus mobiles in India. The company was barred from shipping any stock to India bearing the mark Cyanogen from Tuesday.
However, justice Manmohan Singh allowed the company, which launched its OnePlus One phones in India through e-commerce website Amazon.com on 2 December, to clear its stock.
The order came in a suit filed by Micromax seeking to restrain OnePlus from infringing the exclusive rights it has acquired by an “ambient services and application distributions agreement” with US-based software developing company Cyanogen. Cyanogen specializes in the modification of the Android operating system and through this agreement, Micromax was given an exclusive licence to integrate and distribute Cyanogen’s technology as a part of its devices in India.
Micromax complained that by launching its phones on 2 December, OnePlus had infringed its exclusive rights under the agreement with Cyanogen.
Micromax claimed that it had “incurred major expenses for creation of a brand exclusivity for providing to Indian customers mobile phones with Cyanogen operating systems” and “it would suffer irreparable harm and loss if the defendants (OnePlus) are permitted to continue with their illegal acts in violation of the agreement between Micromax and Cyanogen”.
OnePlus claimed it had entered a collaboration agreement and trademark licence agreement with Cyanogen in February to use its trademark and software in the entire world except mainland China. It also told the court that Cyanogen only informed it about the termination of their agreement a fortnight before its launch in India.
As a result, while Micromax has an exclusive licence for South Asia, OnePlus has a non-exclusive licence for the entire world except China. Cyanogen has clarified that its agreement with Micromax supersedes all prior agreements.
The court also noted that while OnePlus may sue Cyanogen for breach of contract, the same will be governed by the laws of the state of California as per the agreement between them, and OnePlus will not have a remedy in India.
Micromax declined to comment.
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First Published:16 Dec 2014, 10:03 PM IST
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