Did Xiaomi copy Ericsson?

Xiaomi has contended that it did not infringe Ericsson's patents as Qualcomm has obtained a licence from the Swedish company for its patented technology. The High Court on December 8 had 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.

It had also 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 the Swedish company and its objections be decided as per the Intellectual Property Rules. The Court had 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.

They had to also indicate in the affidavit the revenue earned by selling these devices till date. The court had 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 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 Standard Essential Patent by obtaining a licence, but instead of doing so, the Chinese manufacturer launched its devices in India in July 2014. A Standard Essential Patent is the patent for the core technology essential to create something of a particular technical standard. In this case, mobile phones cannot be made without the GSM, GPRS, EDGE and WCDMA technology, which is patented by Ericsson.