Patent Infringement: Micromax Sued By Ericsson In Delhi Court | TechTree.com

Patent Infringement: Micromax Sued By Ericsson In Delhi Court

Take this license and be my FRAND says Ericsson, claims damages amounting to Rs 100 crore.

 

Ericsson has moved the Delhi High Court with regard to failure in bringing about a consensus with Micromax after three years of negotiating, stating that no licence agreement could be worked out on 'standards-essential' patents. Micromax apparently refused a license agreement with regard to Ericsson's patented GSM, EDGE and 3G technology. The disputed devices are Micromax' Ninja series, Funbook Talk and the Canvas 2. The patent infringement case could result in Micromax having to shell out Rs 100 crore in damages.

Said to be the largest patent case in the Indian IT sector, this marks the arrival of mobile-related patent infringement lawsuits, that have been frequent in the US. However, it is very different from those battles (for example, Samsung vs Apple), because those companies do have their own patents to speak of, unlike in this case. This could also bring to fore various local brands selling "budget" smartphones, such as Spice, Karbonn, Intex and Lava.

Ericsson is one of the largest patent-holders in the mobile space, along with the likes of Qualcomm and Nokia. The latter partners Micromax in chipset strategy by providing reference designs, and may come to the rescue. In the meantime, Micromax would still have to deposit an interim payment at the court.

India-based Micromax was riding the success of its recent A116 Canvas HD phablet, and was being touted as a "stiff" competitor to Samsung, in India. In a press statement, the company is learnt to have said, "Micromax is committed to negotiating a FRAND license with Ericsson (sic) as has Ericsson undertaken to providing a Fair Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) license to Micromax. Since the matter is pending before the Hon'ble court it would be incorrect for Micromax to make any further statements on the matter".


TAGS: Micromax, Mobile Phones, smartphones

 
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