What a fiasco this is turning into. The Delhi High Court has granted an injunction against OnePlus, banning the company from selling any more of its OnePlus One smartphone other than what it has in stock in the country. The injunction was passed after Micromax, one of India’s top smartphone makers, filed a suit against OnePlus, claiming that the One’s Cyanogen branding violates the exclusive agreement it signed with Cyanogen.
As most will remember, OnePlus launched its One smartphone in India less than two weeks ago, but already doubts cropped up about the legality of the One to run Cyanogenmod, after Micromax inked an exclusive deal with Cyanogen less than a month before. First, OnePlus said that One smartphones sold in India will not be getting OTA updates from Cyanogen as a direct repercussion from this deal.
Cyanogen’s Steve Kondik unboxing the OnePlus One, in less complicated times
Then, Cyanogen tried to ease fears by saying only OnePlus One smartphones for the Indian market will not be supported; international models purchased from other markets will still be supported even if they are used in India. Obviously, that doesn’t say much.
All this while, Micromax kept mum before it eventually made its move. The Indian company went straight to the Delhi High Court, securing an injunction that threatens to freeze OnePlus’ operations in India. The following is a statement from Micromax to the High Court:
Micromax incurred major expenses for creation of a brand exclusivity for providing to Indian customers mobile phones with Cyanogen operating systems… it would suffer irreparable harm and loss if the defendants (OnePlus) are permitted to continue with their illegal acts in violation of the agreement between Micromax and Cyanogen.
This injunction prevents OnePlus from importing more One smartphones into India, but unlike the injunction served to Xiaomi India, OnePlus will be allowed to sell any remaining stocks of the One that is currently in the country. To continue its operations, OnePlus would have to ship the One smartphone without both the Cyanogen branding at its back and the Cyanogenmod ROM, which is arguably one of the key features of what OnePlus calls the “2014 Flagship Killer“.
At the moment, it appears that Micromax’ India-exclusive deal supersedes OnePlus’ non-exclusive global partnership with Cyanogen. But, with a sales ban on one of the fastest-growing mobile market in the world, it really does seem that OnePlus is in a legal triangle that it doesn’t even know how it got into.
(Source: Live Mint via Android Central)
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