HTC seeks to block US sales of iPhone, iPad, iPod - UPDATED

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 13 May 2010 05:47

IT Industry - Market

Taiwanese cellphone manufacturer, HTC Corporation, has lodged a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) to halt the importation and sale of the iPhone, iPad and iPod in the United States.

HTC claims that Apple has infringed five HTC patents in these products. The move follows similar action by Nokia in December 2009.

On March 2 Apple filed a lawsuit against HTC for infringing on 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone's user interface, underlying architecture and hardware. The lawsuit was filed concurrently with the USITC and the US District Court in Delaware.

The USITC is not a court: its administrative law judges conduct trial-type official administrative hearings, and decisions are generally reached much more quickly than in court proceedings.

Jason Mackenzie, HTC's vice president of North America, said: "We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly our customers that use HTC phones'¦

"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."

Florian Mueller - founder of the European NoSoftwarePatents.com campaign and author of the Foss Patents blog that addresses open source patent issues - told iTWire: "What's missing from HTC's announcement is a lawsuit in the traditional sense of the word, meaning a lawsuit that would be filed with a court.
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