Coolpad blasts Xiaomi for drawn out patent dispute amid IPO process

Coolpad Group, the Shenzhen-based Chinese smartphone brand which is suing larger rival Xiaomi over alleged patent infringements, said the tech start-up was trying to drag out the case by raising objections over legal jurisdiction to buy time for its initial public offering in Hong Kong.

The Shenzhen Intermediate Court has already dismissed the jurisdiction objections from Beijing-based Xiaomi, which has now appealed to the higher court of Guangdong province, thus prolonging the process, said Coolpad global chief intellectual property officer Nancy Zhang, in an interview this week.

“We’ve been sending letters from our lawyers to Xiaomi since 2014 over its violation of our patent rights, but the company hasn’t responded,” said Zhang in a telephone interview. “Therefore, we have no alternative but to seek protection of our interests through the courts.”

The dispute comes at a delicate time for Xiaomi. It has filed for an IPO in Hong Kong that is expected to raise at least US$10 billion, valuing the eight-year-old company at up to US$100 billion, according to bankers familiar with the plan. The market debut could catapult Xiaomi, founded in 2010 by serial entrepreneur Lei Jun, past Baidu and JD.com to become the third-biggest Chinese technology company by value, after e-commerce giants Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group Holding.

A spokeswoman for Xiaomi said the firm had never received a legal letter from Coolpad pertaining to patent infringements in 2014. The company declined to comment on Coolpad’s assertion that it was trying to prolong the lawsuit.