The smartphone patent war has finally reached India. Acting on a suit filed by telecom giant Ericsson, the Delhi High Court has told mobile maker Micromax to pay royalties on every phone and tablet it sells as part of an interim arrangement before the two firms finalise their patent deal by April 9.
Justice Manmohan in a recent order gave his nod to an interim arrangement on payment of royalties by Micromax to Ericsson for using some features of the latter's patents relating to 2G, 3G and Edge technology. The money will be deposited in the court as per the arrangement till the dispute is finally settled.
The agreement between the two companies — known as a FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms) license agreement — will operate for one month. According to it, Micromax will pay anywhere between 1.25% - 2% of sale price as royalty per phone and tablet.
Incidentally, Ericsson had also filed a suit against Samsung in the US in November, alleging infringement of its Wi-Fi and 4G patents. Samsung countersued the company last week.
The HC order came after Ericsson approached the court seeking over Rs 100 crore as damages from Micromax. The agreement says that Micromax and Customs department will intimate Ericsson whenever a consignment of devices arrives at customs so that a representative from Ericsson can inspect it. It clarifies that once Ericsson conducts an inspection of each consignment and informs Customs it has no objection to its release, the same will be immediately handed over to Micromax so that it can take its custody.
Speaking to TOI, advocate Pratibha Singh, who represented Ericsson in the case, welcomed the HC interim order . "This shows Indian courts can decide very complex patent litigation swiftly," she said.
A Micromax spokesperson said the company is negotiating with Ericsson. "Micromax is committed to negotiating a FRAND licence with Ericsson as has Ericsson undertaken to providing a FRAND licence 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," said the spokesperson.
The tussle between Micromax and Ericsson is latest in the series of high-profile patent fights within the smartphone industry. As the popularity of smartphones grows, especially those powered by Google's Android operating system, a number of companies have been attacked with patents. The most high-profile of these cases has been the ongoing fight between Samsung and Apple.
The two companies are involved in tens of court cases in several countries. Other than these two, Motorola, Nokia, Microsoft, Oracle, Google, Sony , HTC, LG, Ericsson — and now Micromax — are part of court fights involving smartphone patents.
Just a few days ago Google chairman Eric Schmidt said that companies are using patent fights to stifle competition. "A number of companies, led by the telecommunications industry decided to use patents to stop innovation... Apple sued Samsung in a number of courts trying to essentially not allow Samsung's products into the market," said Schmidt.
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