HTC sued over Apple iPhone patents

Phone maker HTC is being sued by Apple, which has filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission, alleging that the Taiwanese company has infringed 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone.

Apple iPhone
(Credit: Apple)

"We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We've decided to do something about it," Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, said on Tuesday in a statement. "We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours."

The patents that Apple alleges HTC is infringing are related to the iPhone's graphical user interface, and the iPhone's underlying hardware and software design. The company is asking for a permanent injunction, which would prevent HTC from importing and selling infringing devices in the US. Apple also said that it is seeking damages, but it did not specify an amount.

HTC said it was caught off-guard by the legal action. In a statement earlier on Tuesday, the company said that it had only heard of the complaints through media reports and Apple's press release. The company said it was reviewing the filings. Until it completes its review, a spokesperson said they were unable to provide "comment on the validity of the claims being made against HTC".

"HTC is a mobile technology innovator and patent holder that has been very focused over the past 13 years on creating many of the most innovative smartphones," the company said in its statement. "HTC values patent rights and their enforcement but is also committed to defending its own technology innovations."

Apple has been around the patent infringement block many times with regard to its iPhone, which quickly became both a technological and a cultural touchstone when it debuted in January 2007. But its lawsuit against HTC is the first time it has aggressively initiated infringement accusations against another phone maker without being prompted.

It's also interesting that Apple has chosen to target HTC in this suit and not other mobile phone manufacturers, such as Motorola, Samsung or Palm, which have also built supposed "iPhone killers".

Another interesting point is the fact that Apple did not name software makers Google or Microsoft in its filings. 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.

Neither Google nor Microsoft were named as co-defendants in either the federal patent case or the ITC complaint.

The reason that Google and Microsoft are not directly under attack could be because the technology in question is software that HTC layers on top of the operating systems. If through the course of this case, Apple targets software features that are inherent in either the Google Android or the Windows Mobile operating systems, then Google and Microsoft would be forced to defend the technology in their operating system software.

A representative from Google was not available to comment. And a Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment.

Since the iPhone's arrival, Apple has been the target of several patent infringement lawsuits. The company has been accused of copying multi-touch technology, its Visual Voicemail feature, and its digital camera and imaging technology.

The most bitter battle for Apple so far has been against Nokia, the world's largest maker of mobile phones. In October, Nokia filed a suit against Apple claiming it is infringing on 10 of its patents related to its wireless handsets.

Apple counter-sued a couple of months later, claiming that Nokia is infringing 13 of its patents.

In December, Nokia lodged yet another complaint against Apple with the US International Trade Commission alleging that Apple infringes seven Nokia patents "in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players and computers". The alleged patent infringement is connected to key features in Apple products including user interface, camera, antenna and power management technologies.

Meanwhile, Kodak recently filed complaints with the International Trade Commission against Apple and Research In Motion related to digital-camera patents. The photo company claims the camera technology used in Apple's iPhone and RIM's BlackBerry to preview images infringes on a digital-imaging patent owned by Kodak.

The lawsuit was filed concurrently with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) and in the US District Court in Delaware.

Technology companies have increasingly been filing patent infringement cases with the ITC, because the process there tends to move much more quickly than in the federal court system. The federal courts can take years to render a decision on a patent case. The ITC can come to a decision much more quickly, and it has the authority to ban products from being imported to the US.

Via CNET.com