HTC’s Official Response To Apple’s Lawsuit

HTC just released their official response to Apple's patent lawsuit which was filed against them. The company is basically defending themselves by naming the innovations they have been to market with as well as listing some of the industry-wide recognition they have received. Just to clarify though, no one is taking sides here, just sharing HTC's side of the argument by sharing what the company has officially announced and what their stance on Apple's lawsuit is.

HTC Corporation outlined it's disagreement with Apple's lawsuit and reiterated its commitment to creating a portfolio of innovative smartphones that provides consumers with a variety of choices to choose from. The company was founded in 1997 with a passion for innovation and a vision of how smartphones would change everyones' lives. Since then, HTC has continually driven the vision by consistently creating award-winning smartphones and introducing them to the U.S mobile operators. Here is some information from HTC's announcement:

“HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself. HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer, HTC Corporation. “From day one, HTC has focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that deliver unique value for people looking for a smartphone. In 1999 we started designing the XDA

The O2 XDA by HTC was the first 3.5-inch color touch screen smartphone in the world in 2002. and T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition The T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition by HTC was the first 3.5-inch color touch screen smartphone in the United States in 2002., our first touch-screen smartphones, and they both shipped in 2002 with more than 50 additional HTC smartphone models shipping since then.”

The mobile industry recognizes HTC's contributions through a variety of awards including Fast Company's 2010 TOp 50 Most Innovative Companies and MIT Technology Review's 2010 50 Most Innovative Companies. The GSMA also awarded the HTC Hero as the "Best Phone of 2009" recently. Some of HTC's ground-breaking technology firsts include:

• First Windows PDA (1998)
• First Windows Phone (June 2002)
• First 3G CDMA EVDO smartphone (October 2005)
• First gesture-based smartphone (June 2007)
• First Google Android smartphone (October 2008)
• First 4G WIMAX smartphone (November 2008

Last year (2009), HTC launched the HTC Sense, a branded user experience. The HTC Sense is focused on putting people at the center by making phones work very simply and naturally. This whole experience was created based on listening and observing the way people live and communicate.

“HTC has always taken a partnership-oriented, collaborative approach to business. This has led to long-standing strategic partnerships with the top software, Internet and wireless technology companies in the industry as well as the top U.S., European and Asian mobile operators,” said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America. “It is through these relationships that we have been able to deliver the world’s most diverse series of smartphones to an even more diverse group of people around the world, recognizing that customers have very different needs.”

For more information on HTC’s history of innovation, please visit: www.htc.com/history."

So what do you think of the whole ordeal? Do you really feel Apple is right here or HTC? We will keep you guys updated with the Google vs. HTC information. Lets see how the story pans out and in the mean time, share your thoughts and comments below.