Ericsson alleges Xiaomi violating HC order on sale of handsets

New Delhi: Swedish telecom equipment manufacturer Telefonaktiebolaget L.M. Ericsson told the Delhi high court on Thursday that Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Technology India Pvt. Ltd was violating a 16 December order of a division bench of the court allowing Xiaomi to only sell handsets with Qualcomm processors.

Ericsson has alleged that Xiaomi is selling handsets based on non-Qualcomm chipsets through a website called www.xiaomishop.com. Xiaomi told the court that it has no stake in the website, which it claimed is misusing Xiaomi’s name. Ericsson has disputed this claim.

Xiaomi’s lawyer Ajit Warrier argued the company was complying with the court’s order and the phones allegedly infringing Ericsson’s patents phones were being sold by third parties over whom Xiaomi does not have any control. Calling such sales unfortunate, Xiaomi said it will not come in the way of the court’s order appointing local commissioners to visit five customs offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata to collect information on all Xiaomi devices being imported, including ones by third parties.

The smartphone maker is selling its low-cost smartphones through flash sales under an exclusive arrangement with e-commerce website Flipkart.

Justice Jayant Nath has also allowed Xiaomi to continue the sale of handsets with Qualcomm chipsets till the next date of hearing, which is 18 March provided that it deposits ₹ 100 for each device it sells.

The case pertains to standard essential patents used in AMR, 2G, 3G and Edge technologies. Ericsson has alleged infringements of its patents relating to these technologies by Xiaomi.

A single judge bench had restrained Xiaomi from importing and selling all devices which would infringe Ericsson’s patents. In an appeal against this order, a two-judge bench had allowed Xiaomi to continue its sales subject to certain terms and conditions.

“We have also come to know that Ericsson has alleged that Xiaomi is selling non-Qualcomm devices through a website www.xiaomishop.com. We would like to clarify that sales by Xiaomishop.com are entirely without authorization from Xiaomi, and has no affiliation with Xiaomi in any way. It is owned and operated by a third party and is not an authorised seller of Xiaomi devices in India or any other part of the world. It is infringing our trademarks, and we have previously requested for them to stop selling Xiaomi products. We intend to take legal action against Xiaomishop.com. Our authorised sellers in India are only Flipkart and Airtel,” said Manu Jain, India operations head at Xiaomi.

Shrutika Verma contributed to this story.