The Delhi High Court has reportedly put a halt on Xiaomi’s surging sales in India by passing an ex-parte injunction order. Hearing a case filed by Ericsson India against Xiaomi, the court on Monday passed an ex parte order from “selling, advertising, manufacturing or importing devices” that infringe upon Ericsson’s patents. In fact, the judge also directed the customs officials to stop the imports under the IPR Rules, 2007. Moreover, local commissioners too have been appointed to visit Xiaomi India offices to ensure the implementation of the order.
The adverse order in the case seems to have come about after Xiaomi allegedly ignored Ericsson’s repeated communications. Reports indicate that Flipkart is also implicated in the case, and that the Delhi High Court granted the injunction after Xiaomi did not respond to Ericsson’s missives.
In an emailed statement to NDTV Gadgets, Xiaomi India Head, Manu Jain, responded to the Delhi High Court Injunction
While we haven’t received an official notice from the Delhi High Court, our legal team is currently evaluating the situation based on the information we have.
India is a very important market for Xiaomi and we will respond promptly as needed and in full compliance with Indian laws. Moreover, we are open to working with Ericsson to resolve this matter amicably.
Xiaomi had launched its India operations in July 2014 and the country is the second largest market for the company and also the fastest growing one. It sells phones exclusively through online marketplace Flipkart via flash sales in limited numbers. In such a limited span Xiaomi has made an unparalleled impact completely throwing the domestic smart phone players off their game.
Will this injunction imply the end of Xiaomi in India? A similar incident happened with Gionee, early this year when Ericsson had managed to halt sales for the brand, but the case was resolved out of court in a matter of hours.
In Xiaomi’s case, the company may not have enough “moolah” to get away with an out of court settlement. Will India witness the rise and fall of one of the most dynamic smartphone company all in a span of 6 months?
Only time will tell…!
Update :
Not just sales, Xiaomi now shuts down its Indian website too. Following the suspension of its handsets through Flipkart, Xiaomi shut down its Indian website. The company has put out an announcement, which now contains only one page that shows the letter from its global vice president Hugo Barra addressing the Xiaomi fans. On the brighter side, the facebook page of Xiaomi is still live, so all the Xiaomi followers can stay updated.
