Oppo says India operations unaffected by High Court's 23% deposit ruling

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Oppo India has said the Delhi High Court ruling asking the Chinese smartphone brand to deposit almost a fourth of the amount it last paid Nokia as royalty under a 2018 pact for alleged patent infringement has no effect on its operations and sales in the country. “The decision only concerns a temporary deposit as warranty.

It has no effect on our operations or sales in India,” Oppo said in a statement to ET. “Oppo respects the court’s decision and we will operate in compliance with local laws and regulations in every country, as always.” The high court on Monday asked Oppo to make a security deposit within four weeks of the last paid amount attributable to India, which came to 23% of the royalty paid under a 2018 agreement between the two parties.

The terms of the 2018 pact are confidential and, hence, the exact quantum of Oppo’s deposit was not clear.Onus on Oppo to rebut At the heart of the matter is a case filed by Nokia against Oppo for alleged infringement of the Finnish telecom equipment maker's three standard essential patents (SEPs) in cellular technology. The three SEPs are stated to be necessary to make cellular systems 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G compliant.

A division bench of the high court, while setting aside its single judge's November order that rejected Nokia's claim for royalty, said nearly two years have lapsed since the Finnish company filed the case and not a «single farthing» has been paid so far by Oppo, ET reported Tuesday. Hearing both parties, the high court division bench concluded that a prima facie case of infringement is made out, putting the onus on Oppo to lead evidence during trial to rebut the prima facie view.