A U.S.-based firm called Blue Spike LLC has filed a lawsuit against Xiaomi in the District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, demanding a jury trial. Blue Spike claimed that the Chinese OEM has infringed U.S. patent 8,930,719 B2, also known as "Data Protection Method and Device."

Per TimesNews, Blue Spike asserted that Xiaomi has used the patent without permission in making their lineup of handsets. The alleged offenders are the Mi 4 flagship unit, Mi 4 LTE, Mi 4c, Mi 4i, Mi Note Plus, Redmi 1S, Redmi 2, Redmi 2 Prime, Redmi 2A and Redmi Note 2. What's more surprising is the inclusion of the unannounced Xiaomi Mi 5 and Mi 5 Plus.

Photos of the highly anticipated flagship model have leaked countless times in the past, but no official word of its innards has been reported. Where it currently stands, specs sheet of the Mi 5 includes a near bezel-less 5.2-inch screen carrying 1440 x 2560 resolution display, 4GB of RAM and 16GB or 64GB of native storage. It's still unclear whether the handset supports micro-SD expansion.

Qualcomm's brand-new Snapdragon 820 chipset is under the hood, complete with a four-core CPU and the Adreno 530 GPU, PhoneArena reports. There's a 16-megapixel back camera with dual-LED Flash and an eight- or five-megapixel front facing unit. A 3,030 mAh keeps the motors running.

The Mi 5 is believed to cost the equivalent of $312. Meanwhile, the Mi 5 Plus is said to retail for $390 and come with a larger 5.5-inch or 5.7-inch screen. Their differences seem to end there as the latter is powered by the same Snapdragon 820 chipset carrying the same 4GB of RAM. Camera combo is also similar. Lastly, both the Mi 5 and Mi 5 Plus will be equipped with fingerprint scanning technology.

TechZoom previously shared a leaked ad for the Mi 5. The promotional didn't reveal much except that the device will feature a fingerprint sensor.

As for Blue Spike, the firm said that it has legitimate businesses focusing on Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) software, systems and technology. However, a quick Google search showed that the company has a knack for filing patent infringement cases, including a 15-day binge when it filed cases against 45 different companies.

To say that the timing of the latest complaint is dubious would be a severe understatement, considering the pair of Xiaomi flagships is set to be introduced as early as January 2016. Blue Spike could be hoping that the China mobile maker would be willing to settle to prevent a delay of the long-awaited duo.

Nonetheless, the case is now in court, so who are we to judge?