DELHI: Justice G P Mittal 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 Ericsson and its objections be decided as per the Intellectual Property Rules.The Delhi High Court in an interim order has restrained Xiaomi as well as online e-commerce site Flipkart from selling in India handsets of the Chinese mobile maker that run on the technology patented by Ericsson.The court has also 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.
They have to also indicate in the affidavit the revenue earned by selling these devices till date.The court has 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 total fees of the local commissioners, amounting to Rs 3.5 lakh shall be borne by Ericsson apart from travel and stay expenses, it said.The local commissioners have to submit their report within four weeks.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. According to SpicyIP, Xiaomi reportedly infringed upon the patents: Standard, Essential Patents (SEPs) which are subject to FRAND (Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory) terms. It adds that these these are the same patents which Ericsson has sued Indian companies Micromax, Gionee and Intex for.Ericsson said that it had invited Xiaomi to use its patented technology by obtaining a license, but instead of doing so, the Chinese manufacturer launched its devices in India in July 2014.
