Delhi High Court temporarily lifts OnePlus One ban

Micromax (which recently launched the Yurkea smartphone under the brand name “YU Digital”), had an exclusivity agreement for using the Cyanogen OS in India, and took OnePlus to court earlier this month—banning them from selling their phone under order of the Delhi High Court. Now, it appears that very same court has had a change of heart, at least for now, and the ban on the OnePlus has been temporarily lifted (via India Times).

In a reprieve to the company, judges on Wednesday said the case “shall be heard and decided afresh”. The case will come up for hearing on January 7 under a single judge. “We dispose off the appeal, setting aside the impugned order dated December 16, 2014,” Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and RK Gauba said in their order on OnePlus’s petition, a copy of which was seen by ET.

The court is of the opinion that the original ruling was unnecessary, as the Yureka smartphone and the OnePlus One are aimed at different segments of the market (with the YU phone aimed at the lower of the two), meaning that neither company “really eats into the territory of the other.” This is true to some extent, as the OnePlus was sold at Rs 21,999 (~$350), while the new super-budget Yureka is offered at just Rs 8,999 (~$140).

A “proper debate” is going to be necessary before a fair judgment can be made according to the court, and that’s currently scheduled to happen on January 7th. In the meantime the court is “setting aside the impugned order dated December 16, 2014,” and it appears as if OnePlus is free to sell their smartphone. We’ll know more next month when both sides have a better chance to present their cases and an official ruling is made.