Josh Ong
The ITC, which has the power to block imports of infringing devices, issued a press release indicating the start of the investigation into HTC portable electronic devices and related software. The investigation is in response to Apple's complaint against HTC filed in July.
HTC Corp. of China; HTC America, Inc.; and Exedea, Inc. are listed as respondents in the investigation. The ITC plans to set a target date for completion of the investigation within 45 days of the start date.
Apple has seen early success with a separate case with the ITC that it filed in March of last year. Last month, a judge at the commission ruled that HTC violated two of Apple's patents.
The ruling, which will be reviewed by the full commission, set off a wave of concern that handsets running Google Android could be in jeopardy of having to pay high royalty fees to Apple. HTC is already rumored to pay as much as $5 in royalties to Microsoft for each Android handset it sells.
One patent expert has speculated that the ITC's ruling against HTC could affect all Android handsets. Some Chinese vendors are said to be considering a switch to Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Mango in order to avoid any litigation risks that Android may bear.
For its part, HTC has downplayed the lawsuits as a "distraction." The company has accused Apple of resorting to lawsuits "instead of competing fairly in the market." The Taiwan-based company has also filed its own counter-complaints against Apple.
Andrew Orr
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8 Comments
Apple wil license its patents to HTC? Not in this universe they won't. Apple will keep those patents to itself to further distinguish itself from the pack. They will most likely extract a heavy toll from HTC for their prior transgressions, and then tell HTC to remove those features from any products from that day forward.
Apple wil license its patents to HTC? Not in this universe they won't. Apple will keep those patents to itself to further distinguish itself from the pack. They will most likely extract a heavy toll from HTC for their prior transgressions, and then tell HTC to remove those features from any products from that day forward.
I sincerely hope you are right. Meanwhile Google seems to be directly in the firing line for documented and knowing Java infringement dating back to their Android purchase ... although news on that seems a little hard to find.
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Apple wil license its patents to HTC? Not in this universe they won't. Apple will keep those patents to itself to further distinguish itself from the pack. They will most likely extract a heavy toll from HTC for their prior transgressions, and then tell HTC to remove those features from any products from that day forward.
If they license the patents to anybody else already, however, Apple is legally obligated to license them. They will get a settlement for the time spent unlicensed though.
...The ruling, which will be reviewed by the full commission, set off a wave of concern that handsets running Google Android could be in jeopardy of having to pay high royalty fees to Apple. ...
That wave of concern will soon develop into a tsunami. Apple is handling Google's mindless copying the same way they handle evolving iTunes or iMac or any of their products. Step by step, leveraging previous work. And the HTC suit is just one of the first little steps against Google's stealing. And they'll use the anti-HTC ruling as legal precedent to prosecute future suits against other hardware and software makers.
Ironic that HTC has said that Apple is suing instead of competing fairly in the smartphone market. Apple created the iPhone and iPhone-clone market. And none of the cloners are competing fairly. Unless, of course, you consider copying patented designs (without paying royalties) to be a fair business practice.