Xiaomi blocked from selling phones in India as country backs copying accusations

Xiaomi has been accused by Apple and others of stealing its designs, and has now been stopped from selling phones in India because of a patent dispute

Xiaomi funder and CEO Lei Jun speaks at a launch ceremony of Xiaomi Phone 4, in Beijing, July 22, 2014. (Reuters)

Xiaomi, the Chinese company that has been accused by Apple of stealing its ideas, might have had its swift growth killed off by India after the country banned it from selling phones there.

The company has been growing fast — it is now the third-largest smartphone maker after Apple and Samsung and is thought to be worth around $40 billion — but has been accused by Apple of stealing ideas. And now a dispute with Swedish company Ericson, which claims that it has infringed its patents, has led to the company being banned from selling phones in India, according to the Economic Times.

Xiaomi is “restrained from manufacturing, assembling, importing, selling or advertising” its phones in India, according to the paper.

The company is likely to try and come to a deal with Ericson to use the technology, rather than , so that it can continue its fast growth.

It’s not the first time that the company has been accused of copying, and it has drawn particular ire from Apple. Many of its phones and software products bear a resemblance to the American company’s ones.

“I think it is really straightforward,” said Apple’s Jony Ive at a summit recently. “It is theft and it is lazy. I don’t think it is ok at all.”