Patent tussle: HC directs Micromax to pay royalty to Ericsson

The Delhi High Court has directed Micromax to pay one per cent royalty to Ericsson for using the Swedish equipment maker's patented technologies in its mobile phones.

A bench of Justice G S Sistani, however, said this was purely an "interim arrangement" and would be paid on a quarterly basis from the date of filing of the suit (March 2013) till the present date for all sales made by Micromax in India.

"It is made clear that the order is purely an interim arrangement and is not a determination of the FRAND (Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory) rates for the Ericsson portfolio.'

"The defendant shall not rely upon the rates (fixed by the court) before the competition authorities or any other forum as it is not final in nature," the bench said. In March 2013, Ericsson, represented through senior advocate Prathiba M Singh, had sued Micromax in the High Court for patent "infringement."

The Court also held that Micromax will continue to intimate Ericsson of the arrival of the new consignments at customs and seek its NOC.

"Post inspection, Ericsson will forthwith inform the Customs that it has no objection to the release of the consignment so that the consignment could immediately be handed over to the Micromax," the court held.

It also ordered that the trial of the suit be expedited and completed not later than December 31, 2015. According to Ericsson, it had made several attempts to to sign a license agreement with Micromax on Fair, Reasonable and Non Discriminatory (FRAND) terms for products compliant with GSM/EDGE and UMTS/WCDMA standards. FRAND is a licensing obligation and is used to describe patent licencing agreements.