Delhi HC banned Xiaomi to sell phones in India over patent issue with Ericcson

Delhi High Court on 10 December 2014 banned Xiaomi to sell phones in India over patent issue with Ericsson.

In its judgement, the HC granted an ex parte injunction order against the Xiaomi for infringement of Ericsson's patents and ordered Xiaomi to not bring any new phones into India nor sell or advertise them here unless it resolves the legal issues surrounding its operations.

The court banned Xiaomi after Ericsson put a plea in Delhi HC that that the Chinese company’s phones infringed on its patents. Ericsson deals in networking technologies.

Ericsson sued Xiaomi over the patent issue under the FRAND category. FRAND stands for Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory, which means they are essential and Ericsson can licence them to other companies for a reasonable fee.

On this ground, Ericsson wrote to Xiaomi in July 2014 to pay for the said patents. But Xiaomi allegedly did not reply.

The fight over patents, especially FRAND patents, is more common in countries like the US; however, Ericsson is going after copycat phone companies in India.

Recently, it asked Micromax for royalties, claiming that the Indian phone company was using Ericsson technology in its phones without approval.

About FRAND Patent

FRAND is a legal term that stands for Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory and is typically used to describe patent licensing terms. It is normal for companies to have to agree to licensing a patent in FRAND terms before it will be accepted to become part of a standards body approved technical standard.