Chinese smartphone maker OPPO said on Tuesday that it is still selling its products in India, and media reports claiming that the company will have to pay 34 rupees ($0.5) for each smartphone sold in India are untrue.
U.S.-based audio company Dolby Laboratories sued OPPO Mobiles India Private Ltd and Vivo Mobiles India Private Ltd in the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi, India for alleged licensing violations on November 7.
According to Dolby, both companies launched new smartphones with Dolby's mature technologies pre-installed, but without paying royalties, which Dolby claimed caused it "great losses."
The court accepted the suit and issued interim orders to the two Chinese makers.
"Following the interim orders, we submitted documents on November 8 showing that we didn't infringe Dolby's patents, and we have deposited with the court 34 rupees per smartphone as escrow instead of royalties," OPPO told the Global Times on Tuesday.
The court told the Chinese manufacturers to "furnish to the plaintiffs" a monthly report on how many phones were made, sold or imported "using the subject technology."
With the escrow, the court has ended the interim order and the Chinese companies can now make, sell and import the phones. But it hasn't judged whether there was any infringement of Dolby's technology.
Media reports said that Dolby asked OPPO and Vivo to pay compensation of 34 rupees for each unit sold in India.
OPPO said the media reports are not factual and Dolby didn't make any such claim.
The number of allegedly infringing phones sold in India is still unknown, it noted.
Both companies have witnessed fast growth in India. In the first quarter of this year, Vivo and OPPO had "excellent performances," posting 759 percent and 183 percent year-on-year shipment growth, respectively, according to a report of Counterpoint Research in April.
The smartphone shipments in India stood at 35 million units in the third quarter, with Vivo and OPPO ranking seventh and eighth, the report said.
OPPO said it will communicate technology details with Dolby on the basis of respecting each other's intellectual property.
Vivo could not be reached for comment as of press time.
