Xiaomi has quickly become a household name in many Asian countries and in the market share, currently holds the fourth spot in the world. This particular phone maker is experiencing exponential growth, but their rival, the Chinese made Coolpad, could turn into a potential roadblock for that growth.
On May 5, 2018, Coolpad asked a Shenzhen court to “ask Xiaomi to halt sales of five phones over allegations of patent infringement). The complete list includes such phones as the Xiaomi flagship Mi 6, the Mi 5X, Redmi Note 4X, as well as Mi Note 3 and Mi Max 2.
This request was made after the Yulong Computer Communications Technology Co. Ltd., a very important subsidiary of Coolpad, sued the Xiaomi Company, stating that they had violated three different patents relating to the company’s software earlier in January 2018. Coolpad further states that the sale of these five phones by Xiaomi not only violates their patents, but has also resulted in a loss of finances for them as well. The patent misuse allegations include information regarding the app notifications, the UI, and the management of icon during MIUI ROM custom designation.
In regards to all of that information, they are demanding that the court place and immediate ban on those five Xiaomi phones. As of right no, there is no word on whether this request by Coolpad will actually be accepted. It is also not known what the overall affect of that order would be on the Chinese devices, or whether it will or will not affect sales in India as well.
Many of those devices mentioned in the ban proposal are currently being sold in India, however, there they receive a different branding. For instance, the Redmi Note 4 is the Indian model of the Redmi Note 4X. That phone was actually the best selling phone in India for 2017. The Mi A1 is the Indian version of the Redmi 5X, however, this model would not officially fall under the Android One program for that particular country.
As for the time being, we can only wait to see if the request made by Coolpad, which includes compensation for incurred legal fees, will actually be accepted or not. The Coolpad Company also intends to sue several other tech companies, saying that more than 10,000 of their patents were exploited. Announcements on those legal cases will come in time.
