Apple Sues HTC Once Again – The Fight Is On

Earlier in the year Apple sued smartphone maker HTC and filed a complaint with the ITC (Internal Trade Commission) ], after reportedly warning several handset makers that lawsuits could be in the works. The complaints that were filed accused HTC's devices infringing as many as 20 of Apple's patents. HTC decided to fight back by filing its own complaint with the ITC (both of which are currently being investigated). However, HTC has yet to file any patent infringement lawsuit. This past Monday, Apple filed an additional lawsuit in Delaware federal court, accusing HTC and its subsidiaries for infringing on four recent Apple patents.

The patents that are in question include one which was awarded this past February, using a touchscreen gesture combined with a specific "unlock image" to unlock a mobile device. The three others are all related to saving power by reducing the voltage going to specific parts of a processor and to adjusting a display to account for "real-time changes" in configuration, including adding an external display. Apple seeks treble damages for willful infringement, an injunction to bar HTC from building or selling devices that infringe the patents, and for HTC to pay all the legal fees involved. HTC has brought several Android and Windows Mobile based devices to the U.S market and has said that they are ready to head to head versus Apple.

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.

Apple Suing HTC For Patent Infringement

The makers of the HTC phones and Nexus one phones are being sued by Apple. The lawsuits states that there are 20 different patent infringements related to the iPhone OS, anchitecture, and hardware.

In the release, Steve Jobs says, "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...We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours."

From The Business Insider,

Earlier, we supposed that Apple's multi-touch user interface could be the basis for the lawsuit. But after examining the complaint, it appears that Apple is NOT suing over multitouch, but rather a bunch of other software. (When Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone, he touted its multitouch screen, then said, "And boy, have we patented it.")

It will be interesting to see how things play out. It seems that Apple is involved in Lawsuits all over the board. They are also suing Nokia over patent infringement claiming they have stolen Apple's technology. Nokia is suing Apple in a counter claim, Kodak is also suing Apple for stealing their technology.