Apple countersued by HTC over two recently-purchased HP patents
It was reported on Tuesday that HTC is bringing counterclaims against Apple over two HP patents the Taiwanese smartphone maker recently acquired to help fight its legal battle with the Cupertino tech giant.
In a defensive move FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller called "deny-everything-and-throw-in-the-kitchen-sink," HTC brought two patent infringement counterclaims against Apple as part of the two companies' ongoing litigation in the Southern District of Florida.
The countersuits are being issued in a Motorola v. Apple case initiated in 2010 that spilled over to be consolidated with separate litigation in the same district involving HTC. Six of Apple's twelve claims in the case involve HTC.
The two patents being asserted by HTC:
Mueller claims that HTC is on the prowl for patents it can acquire to leverage against Apple and sees HP as a company with intellectual property to spare. He goes on to say that there doesn't seem to be any strategic advantage for HP to be helping HTC in selling patents destined to be used against the Cupertino company.
Most recently HTC abandoned its U.S. International Trade Commission appeal over a dismissed lawsuit against Apple while a second ITC suit was challenged by the iPhone maker on claims of FRAND patent abuse. Apple went further and alleged that HTC dodged an injunction against certain handsets by making purposeful "misstatements" to U.S. Customs officials.
The once-large phone maker has fallen on tough times as evidenced by the company's announcement that it would be pulling out of the burgeoning Brazilian market after suffering poor sales performance in the region.
In a defensive move FOSS Patents' Florian Mueller called "deny-everything-and-throw-in-the-kitchen-sink," HTC brought two patent infringement counterclaims against Apple as part of the two companies' ongoing litigation in the Southern District of Florida.
The countersuits are being issued in a Motorola v. Apple case initiated in 2010 that spilled over to be consolidated with separate litigation in the same district involving HTC. Six of Apple's twelve claims in the case involve HTC.
The two patents being asserted by HTC:
- U.S. Patent No. 7,571,221 for "installation of network services in an embedded network server"
From the abstract: Various systems and methods are provided for maintaining an embedded network server. In one embodiment, one method includes the steps of providing a dynamic service loader in the embedded network server, receiving a service request to install a dynamic service in the embedded network server, and installing the dynamic service in the embedded network server with the dynamic service loader.
HTC claims Apple infringes this patent with devices "including but not limited to personal computers (such as the Mac Pro, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, Mac Mini), mobile communications devices (such as the iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S), and mobile computing devices (such as the iPod Touch, iPad, iPad 2, the new iPad)". - U.S. Patent No. 7,120,684 for a "method and system for central management of a computer network"
From the abstract: A method and system for central management of plural network clients interfaced with a network host, each network client automatically calling a login routine (20) and a start-up routine (22) associated with initiation of a login script at the network client. Configuration and start-up management can be based upon an operating system determination with several different operating systems, such as Windows 95 and Windows NT, deployed across the network.
HTC claims Apple infringes this patent with "Apple Remote Desktop, Apple Profile Manager, and/or products and services that use Apple Remote Desktop and Apple Profile Manager".
Mueller claims that HTC is on the prowl for patents it can acquire to leverage against Apple and sees HP as a company with intellectual property to spare. He goes on to say that there doesn't seem to be any strategic advantage for HP to be helping HTC in selling patents destined to be used against the Cupertino company.
Most recently HTC abandoned its U.S. International Trade Commission appeal over a dismissed lawsuit against Apple while a second ITC suit was challenged by the iPhone maker on claims of FRAND patent abuse. Apple went further and alleged that HTC dodged an injunction against certain handsets by making purposeful "misstatements" to U.S. Customs officials.
The once-large phone maker has fallen on tough times as evidenced by the company's announcement that it would be pulling out of the burgeoning Brazilian market after suffering poor sales performance in the region.
Comments
At the current rate of decline, HTC will be out of business before this reaches a courtroom.
Apple accused again. Same as it ever was.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JerrySwitched26
Apple accused again. Same as it ever was.
And we should give Apple carte blanche?
They have to buy someone else's invention to sue Apple. That's something patent trolls and Non-Practicing Entity companies do, not HTC but when you're desperate..
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wurm5150
Desperation shot..
They have to buy someone else's invention to sue Apple. That's something patent trolls and Non-Practicing Entity companies do, not HTC but when you're desperate..
All of these guys have been stretching patent definitions with the lawsuits. Note when Apple is sued first, they just look for something that they think will stick as infringement for a counter suit. Beyond that, Apple's best patents and developments originated with small companies that were bought out. I see very little differentiation between any of these guys. The article doesn't provide enough information to say HTC purchased these payments for this case. That sounds like an expensive venture. It's fully possible that other things factored in here. Patent portfolios should be more about cross licensing than litigation. It's ridiculous how much they're tying up worldwide court systems over petty squabbling. If you look at the broad interpretations applied to highly specific patents in some of these lawsuits (many of these patents granted after many rejections and revisions), every one of these companies, including Apple, is being disingenuous to some degree. I'd like to see this blow over. It would be more interesting seeing articles on actual products again rather than light reading on complex topics with comments like this formulated from too little information to make such an assertion.
Okay now I feel better
Well, I think I saw a HTC smartphone on the train this morning. Their copying of Apple is improving, first cracked glass Android screen I've seen. Finally the ripoff merchants are using good glass (that can crack LOL).
No, but it's all getting stupid because Android is simply a ripoff of iOS, end of story.
I know we're all tuned into the tech and mobile industry on these websites... does this happen anywhere else too?
riiight
let me guess...Schmidt leaked design tips for a year before the iPhone was released...then through the release of Android 1.0 over a year later which, aside from having icons and being a touchscreen looked nothing like iOS...right?
Enjoy your notification shade hypocrite.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sr2012
No, but it's all getting stupid because Android is simply a ripoff of iOS, end of story.
That statement is completely devoid of independent thought.
Quote:
Originally Posted by frugality
And we should give Apple carte blanche?
Apple does not need carte blanche. HTC is simply desperate and buying patents anywhere it can to get apple to give in, and its not going to happen. HTC is pathetic and needs to just stop infringing.
I thought the same of a certain Chinese company that made computers called iPads a decade ago and sold their rights... it didn't quite pan out that way. It almost seems like some judges feel sympathy for dead beat companies these days and let them win against Apple for fun.
Not really. Checked out what Android was before Schmitt discovered the secrets of iOS?
Quote:
Originally Posted by AbsoluteDesignz
riiight
let me guess...Schmidt leaked design tips for a year before the iPhone was released...then through the release of Android 1.0 over a year later which, aside from having icons and being a touchscreen looked nothing like iOS...right?
Enjoy your notification shade hypocrite.
Its amazing how wrong you always seem to be. Android was copying the BB until apple came along with the iPhone and then they decided to rip it off.
No more so than Apple's (seeming) penchant for filing suit against any/all devices that get any kind of postive press/consumer attention.
... and there have been quite a few lately.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Scrip
Just curious.... are any other industries involved in this many patent lawsuits?
I know we're all tuned into the tech and mobile industry on these websites... does this happen anywhere else too?
The phone industry was rife with manufacturers ripping each other off and no one giving a damn or protesting. Apple put their phone on the market and Jobs announced that Apple would aggressively defending their IP. Which they have been doing. This litigation may be doing it's job by making other manufacturers actually "think" before ripping off Apple. Asia has been running a wide open copy/rip-off economic culture for decades, so it's no surprise that the worst of the lot is an Asian company.
You asked if this is common in other industries, and it is, however it is mostly Asian (Chinese primarily) that have led the rip-off culture. There is absolutely nothing designed anywhere in the world that Asian manufacturers haven't copied. The only proviso is that whatever it is, it is in high demand somewhere. Branded products may be the most well-known of the lot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sr2012
No, but it's all getting stupid because Android is simply a ripoff of iOS, end of story.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hmm
That statement is completely devoid of independent thought.
Steve jobs seemed to see Android as a rip-off and called Google management out on it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by digitalclips
Not really. Checked out what Android was before Schmitt discovered the secrets of iOS?
You could say the same with Apple's first phone concept :P. They went with the large touch screen display and ditched physical keyboards, but most of its feature set has grown in a different direction. In case you're wondering, if my carrier offered the iphone, I would own one. I prioritize carriers that don't drop calls or mess up my billing over phone choice, but I may switch to Verizon with the next iphone update. I will never go back to AT&T.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Macky the Macky
Steve jobs seemed to see Android as a rip-off and called Google management out on it.
Yes.. his opinion. Everyone else just repeats it.