It’s the news that has thrown the Tech World into a tizzy. Apple Corp is suing HTC for patent infringement. 20 of them! No surprise that they are all related to the iPhone – user interface, architecture and hardware. The lawsuit has been filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and a U.S. District Court in Delaware. The ITC itself cannot award damages, so the fact that there is a District Court involved indicates that Apple intends to go all the way with this.
HTC was shocked to hear about the lawsuit and here’s what they said
“We only learned of Apple’s actions based on your stories and Apple’s press release. We have not been served any papers yet so we are in no position to comment on the claims. We respect and value patent rights but we are committed to defending our own innovations. We have been innovating and patenting our own technology for 13 years.”
For those interested in reading the Legal Documents themselves, the guys at Gizmodo have posted them here
10 patents have been named in the case filed with the U.S. District Court in Delaware and another 10 in case with ITC. A complete breakdown of the patents can be found here (courtesy Engadget)
It is no surprise that the suit has more to do with Android and less to do with htc themselves. A number of htc’s Android based phones have been labelled ‘the accused products’ in the lawsuit. Apple have asked for a permanent injunction and are also claiming ‘triple damages with maximum interest’. Basically, htc would have to stop importing phones into the US and will have to pay them a HUGE sum as damages! As expected, Google has come out in defence of htc and Android.
The disturbing aspect here is that htc is being targeted in a proxy attack on Google. All three companies and possibly the entire tech world knows this. Apple is already involved a patent litigation with Nokia, though it must be pointed out that is counter-suing Nokia for 10 patent infringements.
The time span of the patents involved range from 1995 to last month. Yes, last month. Some of them have been described as ‘generic’ and this could set off a dangerous trend that might actually hamper innovation and development in the long run.
Nothing much can be said of the lawsuit itself at this stage. Such cases can sometimes be solved in a matter of hours or can go on for years on end! Whatever the outcome, lets just hope that we don’t see too many lawsuits of this kind. While one company may laugh its way to the bank, the biggest loser is the consumer!
