Xiaomi to fight Delhi High Court order to resume smartphone sales
15 Dec 2014
Chinese smartphone maker, Xiaomi has decided to fight the court order asking it to cease sales of its devices to resume its sales in the country as soon as possible, (See: Xiaomi to comply with Delhi high court order barring sales smartphones)
The company is at the peak of its popularity in India with its trademark flash sales attracting lakhs of registrations every week.
At the time of the ban, the company was selling the Redmi 1S and Redmi Note devices through Flipkart.
Stating that Xiaomi wanted to be 100-per cent compliant with Indian rules and regulations, Manu Jain, head of the company's India operations had told The Economic Times that the company's lawyers were ready to explore all options including legal ones on what could be done.
Jain had earlier said that they were even ready to work with Ericsson to resolve the matter amicably.
The issue has arisen as Xiaomi apparently used 3G and EDGE compliant technologies on its smartphones in India, but according to Ericsson it held several patents on these connectivity standards, and that the Chinese manufacturer had not acquired any licenses for them was also not paying any royalties.
The ban on the company's smartphones in India would remain until 5 February, when the Delhi High Court would be taking up hearing the matter again.
Officials from the Chinese company had been asked to visit Xiaomi's India office to ensure that it did not sell, advertise, manufacture or import devices that infringed the patents in question, reported Tech Crunch.
According to Ericsson, which described Xiaomi's use of its Standard, Essential Patents (SEPs) as "unfair," Ericsson said that its action was the last resort after the company ignored communication requests for over three years.
Meanwhile, Hugo Barra, head of international operations at Xiaomi, apologising to the smartphone company's fans, explained the circimstances behind the suspension of sales of Redmi Note and Redmi 1S.
He added he was committed to continue aelling, adding that the company was thinking about the next logical legal step and firmly intended to continue the sale of its products in India.
"As a law abiding company, we are investigating the matter carefully and assessing our legal options. Our sincere apologies to all Indian Mi fans! Please rest assured that we're doing all we can to revert the situation. We have greatly enjoyed our journey with you in India over the last 5 months and we firmly intend to continue it!," Barra explained in his Facebook post
