Slash Lane
The latest lawsuit, filed in a U.S. District Court in Delaware, has asked that the importation and sale of products HTC believes are infringing be halted in the U.S. The three patents in question were awarded to HTC in 2008 and 2010, according to Reuters.
HTC has reportedly asked the court for "compensatory damages, triple damages for willful infringement and other remedies." Other details, including the specific patents named in the suit, were not provided.
The suit comes a day after another major Android device maker, Motorola, was bought by Google for $12.5 billion. Google executives have claimed that Android handset makers are supportive of the deal, but some industry watchers have predicted that Motorola will gain a leg up on the competition under Google's ownership.
Apple first sued HTC in 2010, alleging that the company had violated several of its patents. Earlier this month, the federal agency issued an initial ruling in the iPhone maker's favor. Some industry watchers have said that the decision, if upheld by the commission, would be a devastating blow to HTC and Google's Android platform.
In addition, the ITC has already agreed to investigate a second complaint from Apple against HTC. The Taiwanese device maker has expressed interest in negotiating a patent deal with Apple.
HTC also recently bought S3 Graphics, a company that won an ITC ruling in July. A judge with the commission found that Apple's Mac OS X operating system violates two patents held by S3, but did not find that the iOS mobile operating system was in violation.
All eyes in the smartphone industry are on the legal spat between Apple and HTC to see what impact it might have on the business. One analyst believes a victory for Apple over HTC could set a high royalty precedent for Android devices, similar to the $5 per unit that Microsoft collects on the sale of HTC Android hardware.
Marko Zivkovic
Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
Christine McKee
Andrew O'Hara
30 Comments
I think we need to update the Patent Laws. Yes, companies have a right to protect their inventions and get reimbursed when other companies utilize them. However, it appears that every company out there is accused of stealing someone's else's ideas....whether by mistake or intent.
Maybe we need to shorten the patent protection period. Maybe there can be some law that fully defines the penalties for each abuse. It seems the only ones that are benefiting from all this litigation are, once again, the lawyers.
This whole thing is depressing me. Corporations have all the money and power in the U.S. today. With armies of lawyers, and politician in their thrall, there is no incentive or will to change this ridiculous vicious circle. Any attempt at reform is seen as a threat. They'd rather wrestle with the devil they know.
The Patent Wars have started.
They're all shooting from everywhere.
The future of tech is definitely cloudy!!!
But not in the sense lots of us were thinking.
This whole thing is depressing me. Corporations have all the money and power in the U.S. today. With armies of lawyers, and politician in their thrall, there is no incentive or will to change this ridiculous vicious circle. Any attempt at reform is seen as a threat. They'd rather wrestle with the devil they know.
Welcome to capitalism, good luck surviving.
Kinda funny.
When apple sues someone its all "that's their right, and the others just should innovate themself and not steal from apple".
when someone else sues apple its all "the patent system is broken".