Xiaomi Accused of Patent Infringement by InterDigital


Xiaomi Accused of Patent Infringement by InterDigital

The US based firm InterDigital has accused Chinese firm Xiaomi of patent infringement and filed a case at the Delhi High Court. This patent is related to enabling mobile phone users to efficiently and quickly access 4G networks, among others. “InterDigital has filed two patent infringement actions in India against Xiaomi. One complaint involves infringement of five of InterDigital’s cellular 3G and 4G Indian patents and other involves infringement of three of InterDigital’s H.265/HEVC Indian patents,” articulates the NASDAQ-listed company.

The claims have been filed following years of negotiations and after InterDigital made clear that it is willing to resolve the terms of a FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) licence through binding arbitration. InterDigital has sought compensatory and punitive damages for Xiaomi’s infringement of the asserted patents. It is also seeking, among other remedies, injunctive relief to prevent further infringement of the litigated patents in India, unless Xiaomi elects to take a licence on terms determined to be FRAND by the court.

William J Merritt, President & CEO, InterDigital, asserts, “Wireless and video standards play the important role of eliminating barriers to entry, enabling new companies like Xiaomi to enter the market and have success despite having made no investment in previous wireless research activities. Advanced research drives key wireless and video standards, and fair licences with companies that make use of those technologies enable firms like InterDigital to reinvest in still more research, benefitting all users and the industry at large”. He also hopes that InterDigital’s record of research and licensing success, coupled with the claim in Delhi High Court will result in a fair licence and that Xiaomi will join Samsung, Apple, Huawei and others as customers of the company.

Among patents asserted in the cellular action includes patents like No. 313036 that allows handsets to quickly access 4G networks. “One of the main technological challenges of developing LTE networks was efficient bandwidth usage for various traffic types such as VoIP, FTP and HTTP. This patent relates to inventions for quickly and efficiently requesting shared uplink resources. For example, reducing lag when requesting a webpage on a smartphone on LTE networks,” says InterDigital.

Patent No. 320182 is another one which reduces power consumption by selectively switching the mobile phone’s LTE modem into a sleep mode. It enables switching between the sleep and awake modes based on rules within the mobile phone, thereby minimizing signaling from base station.

InterDigital explained that the other infringement action includes patent No. 308108, which enhances picture quality for a decoded video by providing a series of filters, including an adaptive filter, for reducing noise that is generated during the encoding process. This invention results in visibly clearer video images.