Xiaomi in smartphone patent dispute against rival Coolpad
The timing of the patent infringement case has come at a sensitive period for Xiaomi, which is now preparing for its public listing in Hong Kong
Xiaomi, the Chinese technology start-up that has applied to list in Hong Kong, is seeking to void disputed patent rights at the heart of an intellectual property lawsuit filed against the company by rival smartphone maker Coolpad Group.
Beijing-based Xiaomi said on Friday that it has requested the Patent Re-examination Board, under China’s State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), to invalidate three patent rights that Coolpad unit Yulong Computer Telecommunication Scientific had claimed were infringed by the world’s fourth-largest smartphone supplier.
Hong Kong-listed Coolpad announced in a regulatory filing late on Thursday that its Yulong unit had initiated a patent infringement case against Xiaomi with the Jiangsu Province Nanjing Intermediate People’s Court.
The complaint alleged that Xiaomi had used the patents without any license from Yulong. Coolpad claims that the patent infringement relates to app icon management, notifications and system user interface on certain Xiaomi products that Coolpad said it had originally developed.
It requested the court to order Xiaomi to stop the sale and production of three smartphone models covered by the patent dispute – the Mi Mix 2, Redmi Note 5 and Redmi 5 Plus.
