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By Bloomberg

Ericsson AB won a court order blocking the importation and sale of Xiaomi Corp. devices in India that it said infringe wireless-technology patents.

Xiaomi and its local e-commerce partner Flipkart.com can’t make, import or sell the devices in question until a Feb. 5 hearing, according to a ruling by the High Court of Delhi. The Beijing-based smartphone maker began India sales in July and the country is its biggest overseas market.

The lawsuit follows more than three years of attempts to negotiate licensing for patents with Xiaomi, Ericsson spokesman Gaurav Sharma said in an e-mail yesterday. Founded in 2010, Xiaomi has had success with low-cost devices running Google Inc.’s Android system, vaulting the company to third place globally in smartphones behind Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc.

“It is unfair for Xiaomi to benefit from our substantial R&D investment without paying a reasonable licensee fee for our technology,” Sharma said. “We look forward to working with Xiaomi to reach a mutually fair and reasonable conclusion, just as we do with all of our licensees.”

Sharma declined to comment further on details of the legal process. Ericsson is the world’s biggest maker of wireless networks.

Ericsson owns eight patents pertaining to wireless technology used in second- and third-generation devices, according to the Dec. 8 order. The injunction covers any Xiaomi devices using those technologies, Justice G.P. Mittal said, without identifying which specific models are included.

Xiaomi spokesman Tony Wei said he couldn’t comment on details of the court order because the company hasn’t received it or analyzed it. Wei said by phone he didn’t have information on whether all Xiaomi devices are covered by the order.

Xiaomi is open to working with Ericsson to resolve the matter, Wei said in the e-mail.

Flipkart hasn’t received official communication and will work with Xiaomi and authorities as required, Camille Gonsalves, a spokeswoman for the e-commerce company, said by e-mail.

FTC Commissioner Urges Congress to Act Soon on Patent Assertion

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s study of patent assertion entities -- companies that seek to enforce their patents while not producing goods or providing services covered by them -- should be completed in 2015, Commissioner Julie Brill said at a Dec. 10 meeting in Washington hosted by the Computer and Communications Industry Association, ComputerWorld reported.

Brill said that Congress need not wait until the study is completed to address patent reform, according to Computerworld.

Until the new legislation is passed, the U.S. Justice Department and the FTC, as well as state attorneys general can address so-called patent abuse, Brill said, and Computerworld reported.

For more patent news, click here.

Trademark

Time Inc. Loses Trademark Challenge Against Chinese Magazine

Time Inc., publisher of Time and Fortune magazines, failed to persuade China’s trademark authorities to invalidate the “Fortune Times” trademark held by a Chinese citizen, Channel NewsAsia reported.

The New York-based company claimed the mark would infringe both its Time and Fortune trademarks, according to Channel NewsAsia.

Ruling Dec. 10, Principal Assistant Registrar of Trademarks See Tho Sok Yee found that the marks were more dissimilar than similar, and that there was little likelihood of confusion in the marketplace because magazine consumers take a relatively high degree of care in making their selections, Channel NewsAsia reported.

LG Seeks to Register ‘G Pen’ in U.S. for Electronic Devices

LG Electronics Inc., one of the top five makers of smartphones, applied to register “G Pen” as a trademark, according to the database of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The Seoul-based electronics company said in its Dec. 3 application that the mark would be used in connection with smartphones, smartwatches, laptops and tablet computers.

There’s already one registered “G Pen” trademark, belonging to Grenco Science Corp. of North Hollywood, California.

According to the patent office database, Grenco uses the mark with “Medical apparatus, namely, electronic vaporizer for personal use that emits vapor for treatment of a variety of medical conditions.”

Grenco’s “G Pen” is endorsed by the U.S. rapper known as Snoop Dogg, according to the company’s website.

For more trademark news, click here.

Copyright

Google Shuts Down News Website in Spain After Fee Law Passes

Google Inc. will close its news portal in Spain following new copyright legislation that lets publishers charge Internet companies for content that’s aggregated by other websites.

The Web company will close Google News in Spain on Dec. 16, before the law takes effect in January, Richard Gingras, the head of Google’s news service, wrote in a blog post.

The owner of the world’s largest search engine has run into regulatory and legislative challenges in Europe this year as its size and reach raise concerns among lawmakers.

Last month, members of the European Union parliament urged in a nonbinding vote that the European Commission -- which is investigating Google for possible antitrust violations -- consider splitting up search engines.

A court ruled in May that citizens have a right to be forgotten when Internet searches throw up “inadequate, irrelevant, no longer relevant, or excessive” results about them.

The Internet has created opportunities and challenges for publishers, Gingras said, adding that Mountain View, California- based Google will seek to help publishers.

“We’re committed to helping the news industry meet that challenge and look forward to continuing to work with our thousands of partners globally, as well as in Spain, to help them increase their online readership and revenues,” he said.