Xiaomi's naming conventions and design choices have had significant legal implications regarding risks of infringement and litigation involving Apple. The most notable areas of concern revolve around Xiaomi's product naming strategies, advertising approaches that directly compare Xiaomi products with Apple's, and design similarities that some perceive as deliberate imitations of Apple's intellectual property.
Naming and Design Similarities
One of the most discussed issues pertains to Xiaomi's use of product names and design elements that closely resemble those of Apple. Xiaomi's choice to skip the Xiaomi 16 model and directly release the Xiaomi 17 series, intending it as a competitor to Apple's iPhone 17 showcased a controversial branding strategy. This decision raised legal and public relations challenges because it gave an impression of Xiaomi aligning its naming to capitalize on Apple's established brand recognition in the smartphone market. Such a strategy can be interpreted as an attempt to draw consumer association between Xiaomi's products and Apple's high-end phones, which can lead to allegations of unfair brand leveraging and trademark dilution.
Moreover, Xiaomi's introduction of the "Mimoji" avatar feature strongly mirrors Apple's "Memoji." Both features involve augmented reality avatars replicating users' facial expressions, and Xiaomi's naming choice blurred the lines between homage and infringement. Apple holds the trademark rights to âMemojiâ in Hong Kong, while in the U.S., the trademark was held by another company (not Apple), complicating Xiaomi's use of a similar term in different jurisdictions. Xiaomi's defense has included arguments about their ownership of the "Mi" trademark and the suffix distinction; however, the naming similarity has led to tensions and potential trademark infringement claims. Xiaomi reportedly accidentally embedded Apple's own Memoji content in its product pages, which further fueled skepticism about the company's intent to mimic Apple's features rather than create original content.
Legal Actions over Advertising and Naming
Apple and Samsung have issued cease-and-desist legal notices to Xiaomi concerning its advertising in India, where Xiaomi compared its smartphones to Apple's iPhone 16 Pro Max and Samsung phones in ways that were alleged to damage these companies' brand value. These ads not only questioned the pricing but also the technological superiority of Apple and Samsung devices, leading to legal disputes centered on false advertising and disparagement claims.
India, being one of the largest smartphone markets globally, is a strategic battleground for these companies, with companies aggressively protecting their brand and market shares. Xiaomi's marketing approach, which openly pits its products against those of Apple, has escalated tensions, leading to legal scrutiny and warnings from Apple and Samsung seeking to protect their premium market positioning.
Design Patent and Intellectual Property Challenges
Apart from naming and advertising, Xiaomi has faced patent infringement lawsuits concerning the use of patented technology in its devices. For example, Xiaomi is involved in lawsuits over LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) technology patents owned by Sun Patent Trust that allege Xiaomi used these patented technologies without proper licensing, leading to multi-million-dollar claims in courts in India and France. While LTE technology patent suits are not directly related to Apple's design patents, they illustrate Xiaomi's broader legal exposure in intellectual property matters.
In design, Xiaomi's strategies have faced criticism and legal risk for copying Apple's product aesthetics. Apple's design chief Jony Ive has publicly criticized Xiaomi for copying Apple's designs, describing it that Xiaomi spends relatively little effort innovating and instead duplicates Apple's design work. The controversy around Xiaomi's Su7 electric car design, which resembled Porsche models, shows a pattern where Xiaomi leverages design elements from established brands, sometimes treading closely to patent boundaries.
Though design patents like Porsche's Panamera expired, allowing Xiaomi to file similar design patents soon after, such timing highlights Xiaomi's approach of working close to legal limits by using design patents that have just expired to adapt those designs with minimal innovation.
Trademark and Brand Confusion Risks
Using notably similar names or design elements can mislead consumers, which is the core issue in trademark infringement. In Xiaomi's case, the similarity between its "Mimoji" and Apple's "Memoji," or the choice to number Xiaomi's models similarly to Apple's, raises concerns about consumer confusion and brand dilution. Trademark law is designed to prevent such confusion and to protect brand identities. Xiaomi's overlap in these areas increases its legal risks from multiple fronts: direct trademark infringement claims, unfair competition claims, and damages due to dilution of brand distinctiveness.
Xiaomi's branding and design choices, therefore, create a multifaceted legal risk environment. Lawsuits or legal notices coming from Apple reflect not only a defense of intellectual property rights but also strategic efforts to maintain market exclusivity and brand integrity. The legal landscape is further complicated by regional differences in trademark ownership, patent validity periods, and enforcement strength, leading to a complex set of ongoing and potential disputes for Xiaomi.