YU has been quite busy promoting and campaigning its unreleased Yutopia smartphone in recent months. Shortly after revealing that the handset would release on 7 December, the smartphone maker quickly postponed the launch to 17 December without any proper explanation. This has left hundreds of fans upset but a fresh report on Thursday revealed that the actual cause of the delay is the result of legal feud between Micromax and Ericsson.
In a report from the Financial Express on Thursday, the Delhi High Court reportedly issued bailable warrants against the founders of Micromax, Sumeet Kumar, Rahul Sharma and Vikas Jain, in contempt of a court order issued in November last year that requires Micromax to pay 1 percent of the selling price of its handsets to Ericsson for using its patents.
The patents in question are essential to manufacture the products. The Delhi High Court has also restrained Micromax's online-only sub-brand YU Televentures from importing and selling handsets that infringe upon Ericsson's patents without paying royalties, Financial Times reports.
As it appears, Yutopia's delayed launch is the result of the court's restraining order.
YU's founder Rahul Sharma was the first to share the news of Yutopia's delayed launch via Twitter on Wednesday. In his brief tweet, he said, "Hold your excitement, as we plan to announce something special with YUTOPIA. The most powerful phone now launches on 17th Dec."
YU said the delay in the launch of Yutopia is to announce "something special" at the event. While it's not clear what's in store, rumours have it that YU is planning to launch two phones on 17 December, which also marks the anniversary of the brand.
