3 March, 2010

HTC being sued by Apple over iPhone patents

News is that Apple has filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission (USA), alleging that HTC has infringed multiple iPhone related Apple patents.

To quote Steve Jobs in a statement released by Apple:

We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it.” … “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

What this case specifically relates to apparently is the HTC graphical user interface and underlying architecture and hardware design. Perhaps HTC was seen as an easier target than Google, Microsoft and other smartphone manufacturers like Samsung? Or perhaps it’s the first case of many?

CNET reports that:

In its complaint to the International Trade Commission, Apple named 12 phones that it claims use technology that infringes its patents. Five of those phones–including the Nexus One, which is sold directly by Google–use Google’s Android operating system. And seven of the phones named in the complaint use Microsoft’s Windows Mobile software.”

Maybe it’s not really ‘new’ news… Someone’s always suing someone in the big world of consumer electronics, especially with the high increase of smartphone technology in the industry. Some skeptics say it’s just a different form of paid advertising, for both parties.

And Apple has been sued by Nokia more than once in the past for similar copyright infringements, and more recently by Kodak.

Whilst many of these types of cases result in cash settlements, it has been suggested that Apple is also going to try for a permanent injunction on HTC from selling infringing devices. Guess it’s a wait and see, as usual.

In the meantime, check out what SmartHouse has to say in relation to HTC and specificially the Telstra’s HTC HD2.