(By NT Balanarayan & Vikas SN) Telecom network equipment maker Ericsson has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Intex for alleged infringement of its Standard Essential Patents, reports SpicyIP. Ericsson has apparently sought an ad-interim injunction on the grounds that Intex is an "unwilling licensee" as its tactics for license procurement was "barely satisfactory". However, the judge dismissed this saying both the company have been in negotiations since 2008 and had also communicated a day before filing the lawsuit. The next hearing on the matter is due on May 8. Intex is among the several Indian companies that sell affordable smartphones in India with prices ranging from Rs 3,200 - Rs 19,900. CCI Anti-trust probe This lawsuit follows an anti-trust probe (pdf) by CCI in January this year, after Intex complained that Ericsson was demanding an exorbitant royalty and unfair terms for its patents. CCI mentioned that it had ordered this probe since the company was indulging in discriminatory trade practices as there was no linkage between the royalty rates and the patented product. It also noted that Ericsson was acting contrary to the FRAND (Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory) terms by charging patent royalties based on the cost of the user product (mobile phone, tablets and others) rather than the product being licensed (chipset), which is discriminatory. This is quite similar to what CCI had said after Micromax had filed a similar anti-trust complaint against Ericsson. CCI had informed that it would be clubbing this case with the existing Ericsson anti-trust probe and had told the director general to investigate for any violation of the provisions of the…
