Xiaomi Faces Allegations of Patent Infringement
Coolpad Group announced that it had decided to sue three group firms of Xiaomi for patent infringement. Xiaomi filed for a $10 billion Hong Kong IPO the week before.
The Chinese smartphone maker published a statement late on Thursday. There it said that its subsidiary, Yulong Computer Telecommunication Scientific (Shenzhen) Co Ltd has decided to file a lawsuit against Xiaomi. The three group firms were identified to be Xiaomi Telecom Technology Co Ltd, Xiaomi Technology Co Ltd, and Xiaomi Factory Co Ltd.
The complaint has been filed in a court in Jiangsu province. It stated that the three Xiaomi groups used its patent without permission.
Coolpad said that the complainant had posted some demands. These demands include the immediate end of production and sale of some Xiaomi smartphone models, including the Mi MIX2.
A similar case has been filed by Yulong in a Shenzhen court in January, also concerning Xiaomi.
Coolpad has alleged that Xiaomi violated numerous of its patents. These patents include its multi-sim card design and other technology related to user interface.
Xiaomi has released a statement regarding the matter. There it said that a request has been submitted to patent authorities. It asked authorities to invalidate the patent rights that have become the main focus of the lawsuit filed in Shenzhen.
The company added that it will give its full cooperation in the authorities’ investigation of the matter.
Coolpad is a Shengzhen-based smartphone maker and was founded 25 years ago. It was once a unit of Jia Yueting’s LeEco conglomerate.
LeEco has been in a financial struggle for over a year and a half. This prompted its decision to sell off all its interest in Coolpad in January.
Since March 2017, Coolpad shares have been suspended due to various reasons regarding its annual reports.
Xiaomi’s Blockbuster IPO
Coolpad’s global chief patent officer Nancy Zhang spoke during a press conference held on Friday. There she denied the relation of the complaint to Xiaomi’s upcoming IPO.
“It is because the IP [intellectual property] protection environment in China improved that Coolpad launched the lawsuit in January this year,” Zhang stated.
Just last week, Xiaomi filed for a Hong Kong IPO that can potentially reach the value of $10 billion. It also has the potential of being the largest global listing in almost four years.
The company has made demands, saying that Xiaomi should compensate it for losses due to the alleged infringement. Zhang refused to provide any specific figure.
