Smartphones and Tablets have now become an integral part of people’s life and people are increasingly becoming glued to their smartphones most part of the day. With the increasing demand of smartphones there is a parallel increase in patent claims and tiffs. Micromax, one of the leading smartphone makers in India had inked a royalty pact with Ericsson, the Swedish manufacturer after a tiff between the two.
Ericsson had filed a case in the court stating patent infringement by Micromax. The Delhi high court in view of the petition has directed Micromax to pay royalties for every smartphone and tablet it sells in the country. However, the idea of paying royalty is an interim arrangement until the patent deal is signed by the two companies on April 9th.
Micromax has agreed to pay royalties to Ericsson as directed by the court. The Swedish telecom giant has claimed a damage of US $18 million in view of patent infringement by Micromax. The patent infringement covered 2G, 3G, EDGE technology and 4G. The companies will sign a FRAND agreement which stands for Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory license agreement. The agreement stipulates about 1.2 per cent to 2 per cent of the sale price of each smartphone and tablet.
The agreement also says that the equipments will not pass customs until it is cleared and approved by an Ericsson representative. Micromax is currently negotiating deals with Ericsson to reach a consensus. This is another high-level patent dispute happening in the recent past. The most popular patent tiff was between Apple and Samsung which still remains unsettled.
Apart from Apple, Samsung, other companies which are engaged in a patent war across the globe includes Nokia, Sony, Google, HTC, Microsoft, Oracle and more. These patent wars have its own pluses and minus however the companies have an advantage of making the brands popular and creating a sensation in the market. Who will win the war? The customer has got a lot to witness.
