It seems to be raining bad luck for Chinese smartphone companies in India, with OnePlus One becoming the second firm to face a ban after Xiaomi here. It all started when indigenous manufacturer Micromax secured a Delhi High Court order banning sales and advertising of all OnePlus One handsets in India, as the device bore Cyanogen branding on its back. Micromax had pleaded in its complaint that it had an exclusive partnership with Cyanogen in India and the custom ROM vendor couldn’t be associated with another company at the same time.
Earlier this month, Gurgaon-based Micromax revealed its exclusive partnership with Cyanogen and the company is set to launch its YU Cyanogen phones in India on Thursday. These Cyanogen series devices will run the Cyanogen built OS out-of-the-box.
During the announcement of its partnership with Micromax, Cyanogen had expressed its inability to provide software updates to OnePlus One consumers who bought the device in India. But now it appears that Micromax wants an even bigger piece of the Cyanogen pie.
“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,†the firm said in its statement in the Delhi High court.
On the plus side, the court is letting OnePlus One clear its stock that has already been imported in the country. Apart from that, the Chinese company can sue Cyanogen for a breach of contract in California, where the agreement was signed.
