Swedish telecom giant, Ericsson has accused Indian smartphone-maker Micromax of patent infringement and has moved to the Delhi High court seeking Rs.100 crore in damages. The Delhi High Court has been been quite swift in this matter and has asked Micromax to pay royalties to Ericsson on every device it sells. This decision by the court is a part of an interim agreement before the two companies settle the patent deal by April 9.
According to the report in Economic Times, Ericsson had moved to the Delhi High Court saying it was taking legal action after three years of negotiations failed to yield a licence agreement on ‘standards-essential’ patents. Ericsson has said that Micromax has constantly refused to enter into a licensing agreement over some some of the essential patents owned by Ericsson pertaining to some wireless technologies like GSM, EDGE and 3G.
As a part of the agreement known as FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms), the Delhi High Court has ordered Micromax to pay 1.25-2% of the sale price of the devices under dispute as royalty to Ericsson and the money paid by Micromax will be deposited in the court will the dispute is finally settled.
Also, as a part of the agreement before the two companies finalize a patent deal, the Delhi High Court has said that Micromax and Customs department will inform Ericsson whenever a consignment of the disputed devices arrives at customs, so that it can be checked by the executives from Ericsson for any patent violation. Once Ericsson completes it’s inspection, the consignment can then be handed over to Micromax.
The devices under dispute in this matter include some of the most successful devices from Micromax like the A110 Canvas 2, Funbook Talk and the Ninja series of smartphones.
This is the first major patent infringement case in the Indian IT and Telecom sector and it could have a serious impact on some of the other low-cost handset makers as well, as they might be next in line to face similar charges.
Read more: iGyaan.in | Ericsson Sues Micromax For Rs.100 Crore Over Patent Infringement http://igyaan.in/2013/03/40716/ericsson-sues-micromax/#ixzz2Oe0Mti00
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