Xiaomi has been hit with a sales and import ban in India. A court in New Delhi has banned sales and imports due to copyright infringement. The case was brought against Xiaomi by Ericsson India and Ericsson says that it has tried to get Xiaomi to license the standard essential patents it is using in its devices.
Ericsson says that Xiaomi wouldn't come to the negotiating table and it field charges as a result. The judge overseeing the case in India passed an ex parte order that bans Xiaomi from importing, selling, and advertising its smartphones in India.
This is certainly a blow to Xiaomi; India was its second largest market in the world. The judge also ordered customs officials to stop imports under IPR Rules, 2007. Xiaomi isn’t the first smartphone maker operating in India to lose a patent case to Ericsson.
A judge in India previously ordered Micromax to pay Ericsson up to 1% of the sales price of each device it sold in royalties after Micromax lost a similar case. Xiaomi has only been selling in India since July 2014, and already the country has become a very important market for the company.
SOURCE: Times of India