Xiaomi faces a ban on its products in India when the Delhi High Court ruled in favor of Swedish company Ericsson that filed for an intellectual property rights violation against the Chinese phone maker. The high court issued an injunction that will disable Xiaomi from importing some of its devices in the country.
Xiaomi products are exclusively sold through the online retailer Flipkart in India, now the third biggest smartphone market in the world.
The lawsuit filed by Ericsson is said to involve eight standard-essential mobile patents which pertain to technologies referred to as 3G, EDGE and AMR. Ericsson is taking legal action against Xiaomi in India on licensing fees issue.
Prior to the lawsuit, Ericsson had asked Xiaomi to secure a license to the patents in preparation for its entry into the smartphone market of India. However, Xiaomi failed to do so and went ahead with the launching of its products in the country in July. Furthermore, the Chinese company had also expanded its operations by setting up an Indian subsidiary and by tying up with Flipkart to exclusively sell its smartphone products in the market.
The halt of the sale of Xiaomi's products in India shall continue until the next hearing of the case which is scheduled on Feb. 5 next year. The court also demanded that both Xiaomi and Flipkart provide details of the sold devices in India which are compliant with 3G, EDGE and AMR technologies.
India is Xiaomi's second largest market following the company's home territory China. The company had even renamed the Xiaomi India brand into simply 'Mi India' which is easier to say. There are also plans of setting up an R&D facility in India that would most likely be located in the tech hub of Bangalore and a manufacturing base in the country.
"India is a very important market for Xiaomi and we will respond promptly as needed and in full compliance with Indian law," said Xiaomi in a statement. "Also, we are open to working with Ericsson to resolve this matter amicably."
Xiaomi aims to set a record of selling 60 million smartphones this year. The company now has presence in seven Asian countries. It is aiming to increase its presence in Southeast Asia and eventually enter Latin America when it gears up for its next wave of expansion in 2015.
