By R. Jai Krishna in New Delhi and Gillian Wong in Hong Kong 

An Indian court has halted the imports of handsets from China's largest smartphone maker, Xiaomi Inc., in response to a complaint from Sweden's Ericsson that the Chinese firm was using Ericsson's technology but refusing to pay royalties.

The High Court of Delhi said Xiaomi products wouldn't be allowed into India and Xiaomi's main distributor, online retailer Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd., wouldn't be allowed to sell Xiaomi products as the court waits to hear Ericsson's complaint.

Court documents showed that the next hearing on the case is scheduled for Feb. 5.

Xiaomi's lawyers are still looking into the court's order to decide what it means and what it will do next, said Manu Jain, Xiaomi's India operations head.

"India is a very important market for Xiaomi and we will respond promptly as needed and in full compliance with Indian laws," he said. "We are open to working with Ericsson to resolve this matter amicably."

Xiaomi launched its first smartphone in India in July and captured 1.5% of the Indian smartphone market in the third quarter, according to Counterpoint Research. The research firm earlier said Xiaomi was on track to double its market share this quarter.

Xiaomi's global vice president, Hugo Barra, said late last month that Xiaomi had sold more than 500,000 devices in India by October

Ericsson said it has tried for years to get Xiaomi to pay a licensing fee for Ericsson technology that it built into Xiaomi mobile devices.

"To continue investing in research and enabling the development of new ideas, new standards and new platforms to the industry, we must obtain a fair return on our R&D investments," said an Ericsson India spokeswoman in a statement. "We look forward to working with Xiaomi to reach a mutually fair and reasonable conclusion, just as we do with all of our licensees."

Dhanya Ann Thoppil in Bangalore, India, contributed to this article.

Write to R. Jai Krishna at krishna.jai@wsj.com

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