Xiaomi’s New IP Guy

BEIJING—There’s no shortage of questions hanging over Xiaomi, one of the most highly valued—and in my opinion, one of the most ambitious—private companies on the planet. After vaulting to a leading position in the Chinese smartphone market, can it maintain its momentum as the country’s growth slows? Can it make inroads in India, where it has fewer advantages compared to China? And how fast can the company grow revenues from services like advertising and games, which totaled some half a billion dollars last year? That’s important because, let’s face it, Xiaomi isn’t going to make meaningful profits from phones.

Behind these questions lies another: Can Xiaomi license the technology patents it needs to sell its phones in new markets without a litany of intellectual property lawsuits? The company was briefly forced to stop selling phones in India in 2014 when a court found its phones infringed wireless connectivity patents owned by Ericsson. The ban was later lifted.