Lava infringes Ericsson patents, ordered to Stop Manufacturing & Sales in India

The Delhi High Court issued an interim injunction order preventing Lava from importing, exporting, manufacturing and selling phone models that make use of Ericsson’s patents and technology, after the company’s win in this case. The court found that Lava is guilty of using Ericsson’s patents related to GSM, EDGE and WCDMA technology. Interestingly the report adds that the recent Lava order was strikingly similar to that of Ericsson vs. Intex case in March 2015, wherein Intex was found guilty of infringing the same patents as Lava.

According to the reports, Lava’s phone models used eight different Standard Essential Patents (SEPs), and it did not sign any licensing/royalty deal with Ericsson for incorporating those patents. Ericsson argued for the same n the High Court. To this, Lava claimed that Ericsson did not provide it with the correct technical specification of the patents in question, while the court overlooked Lava’s reasoning and all expert witnesses produced by it. However, the company lost to Ericsson, as Ericsson maintained an active stance with claims and affidavits to prove the essentially of the standards incorporated by Lava into its phones.

The company literally mapped out the standards that Lava allegedly took from it, and supported the case with necessary tests. It also provided expert affidavit wherever asked. According to the report, Lava had approached a Noida District Court wherein it agreed that the patents it used were, in fact, SEPs. They also requested the court to direct Ericsson to grant them a license under FRAND principles.

In 2011, negotiations had taken place between the two companies and Ericsson had approached Lava to enter into a licensing agreement for the SEPs, for which Lava was not very co-operative. The court agreed to the fact that Lava had requested for further technical information regarding the SEPs, while Ericsson maintained the stance that they had provided all information as required. The court then mentioned that Lava’s actions amounted to an unwillingness to execute licensing deal with Ericsson, and found them guilty. Note that this the fifth such case that Ericsson has fought with a mobile manufacturer for patent infringement while securing an interim injunction against Micromax and Xiaomi in the past.