HTC countersues Apple, claims infringement of five patents

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Taiwanese smartphone company HTC has responded to Apple's patent suit with a lawsuit of its own, accusing the iPhone maker of violating five patents.



HTC announced the countersuit Wednesday. It was filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission, and asks for the importation of the iPhone, iPad and iPod into America to be halted.



"As the innovator of the original Windows Mobile PocketPC Phone Edition in 2002 and the first Android smartphone in 2008, HTC believes the industry should be driven by healthy competition and innovation that offer consumers the best, most accessible mobile experiences possible," said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of North America, HTC Corporation. "We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly our customers that use HTC phones."



The company noted in a press release that the company has built a portfolio of "the world's most advanced smartphones" over the last decade. Currently, there are 12 HTC phones available for customers in the U.S., including the HTC EVO 4G for Sprint, the Droid Incredible for Verizon, and the HTC HD2 for T-Mobile. It did not mention the specific patents involved in the suit.



Apple first sued HTC in early March, accusing the Taiwanese company of infringing on 20 patents related to the iPhone's user interface, underlying architecture and hardware. In a statement, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs said though competition is "healthy," competitors should not "steal" Apple's technology.



Though the suit was directed at HTC, the complaint specifically targeted a number of phones that run Google's Android mobile operating system, leading many to believe the real purpose of the complaint was to serve as a warning shot toward Google. The search giant came out in support of HTC, noting that it will "stand behind" partners who help to develop the Android operating system.



Last month, Microsoft and HTC revealed the two companies had struck a deal to license Microsoft's technology for use in HTC phones. The agreement, in which HTC will pay royalties to Microsoft, came about because officials with the Redmond, Wash., software giant believed Google's Android mobile operating system infringes on patented technology owned by Microsoft. Previously, a Microsoft official had publicly stated that Apple's suit against HTC was not necessarily bad, as it could help to sort out intellectual property issues in the mobile space.



In early April, the ITC announced it will investigate Apple's complaint against HTC, while the company has indicated it has no plans to back down.



The ITC has been very busy with Apple lawsuits lately. Last year, Finnish handset maker Nokia sued Apple, and the iPhone maker later countersued, with both companies accusing the other of patent violations. The ITC has also begun investigating claims made by Kodak against Apple, as well as a suit from Elan Microelectronics.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 104
    bloggerblogbloggerblog Posts: 2,514member
    20 versus 5, I wonder who's gonna end up on top!
  • Reply 2 of 104
    popnfreshpopnfresh Posts: 139member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bloggerblog View Post


    20 versus 5, I wonder who's gonna end up on top!



    umm... it has nothing to do with the number of patents and everything to do with how important the patents are and how strong a case the plaintiff has. we don't know the answer yet on either count.
  • Reply 3 of 104
    competition and innovation?



    more like...apple's ideas that we're trying to catch up with



    cannot wait to see the android tablet
  • Reply 4 of 104
    rot'napplerot'napple Posts: 1,839member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    "As the innovator of the original Windows Mobile PocketPC Phone Edition in 2002



    Windows Mobile Pocket PC... 2002... Couldn't have been THAT MUCH innovation!
  • Reply 5 of 104
    benroethigbenroethig Posts: 2,782member
    Live by the lawsuit, die by the lawsuit.
  • Reply 6 of 104
    nasseraenasserae Posts: 3,167member
    No surprise here.
  • Reply 7 of 104
    rot'napplerot'napple Posts: 1,839member




    Wonder what Newton Patents could HTC have violated?
  • Reply 8 of 104
    rot'napplerot'napple Posts: 1,839member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rot'nApple View Post






    Wonder what Newton Patents could HTC have violated?





    Apple Newton MessagePad 1993...



  • Reply 9 of 104
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,822member
    Oh my, what a shock!
  • Reply 10 of 104
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    Wonder where HTC stole those patents from
  • Reply 11 of 104
    piotpiot Posts: 1,346member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NasserAE View Post


    No surprise here.



    Apart from the two month gap since Apple sued them.
  • Reply 12 of 104
    chronsterchronster Posts: 1,894member
    Hey Apple, just let me get my evo before you shut HTC down
  • Reply 13 of 104
    asianbobasianbob Posts: 797member
    And now the whole system is tied up...



    I foresee a settlement coming out of all of this and then it'll be business as usual.
  • Reply 14 of 104
    nasseraenasserae Posts: 3,167member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by piot View Post


    Apart from the two month gap since Apple sued them.



    Don't blame them. They didn't see it coming.
  • Reply 15 of 104
    foo2foo2 Posts: 1,077member
    "As the innovator of the original Windows Mobile PocketPC Phone Edition in 2002 and the first Android smartphone in 2008, HTC believes the industry should be driven by healthy competition and innovation that offer consumers the best, most accessible mobile experiences possible,"



    I had no idea HTC wrote that piece of garbage WinMo Phone Edition. Android of 2008 isn't much better. What made Android competitive was its use, starting in December 2009, of multitouch on a capacitive display--an Apple patented invention that Apple filed for in May 2004.



    IANAL, but there's no legal requirement to sue immediately.



    HTC had to expect some sort of involvement in a lawsuit after the multitouch upgrade was released in December. Perhaps they thought Google would be the direct target. Perhaps Google will be yet.
  • Reply 16 of 104
    mj webmj web Posts: 918member
    It appears the battle for mobile supremacy space will play out in courtroom.
  • Reply 17 of 104
    aaarrrggghaaarrrgggh Posts: 1,609member
    Mutually Assured Distruction.



    Wonder if the patent system will ever get reformed enough that a new entrant has a chance. System is so broken.
  • Reply 18 of 104
    robin huberrobin huber Posts: 4,024member
    HTC sues Al Gore, claims violation of its internet patent.
  • Reply 19 of 104
    So where is Blackberry in all this?
  • Reply 20 of 104
    isaidsoisaidso Posts: 750member
    "Last year, Finnish handset maker Nokia sued Apple, and the iPhone maker later countersued, with both companies accusing the other of patent violations."



    And (correct me if I'm wrong, but) Nokia just filed another new lawsuit against Apple last week; right?

    Ugh. Tedious.
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