HTC declares war on Apple

By Giselle Tsirulnik

March 19, 2010

Will justice be served?

Please click here to read the entire filing and see what Apple claims HTC infringed.

HTC Corp. has made it clear it disagrees with Apple's legal actions and reiterated its commitment to creating a portfolio of innovative smartphones that gives consumers a variety of choices.

On March 3, to HTC’s surprise, Apple filed a lawsuit against the company for infringing on 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone's user interface, underlying architecture and hardware. The lawsuit was filed concurrently with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) and in U.S. District Court in Delaware.

"HTC disagrees with Apple's actions and will fully defend itself,” said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC, Seattle. “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.

"From day one, HTC has focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that deliver unique value for people looking for a smartphone,” he said. “In 1999 we started designing the XDA(i) and T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition(ii), our first touch-screen smartphones, and they both shipped in 2002 with more than 50 additional HTC smartphone models shipping since then."

Apple reinvented the mobile phone in 2007 with its revolutionary iPhone, and did it again in 2008 with its pioneering App Store, which now offers more than 150,000 mobile applications in over 90 countries.

Founded in 1997 with a passion for innovation and a vision for how smartphones would change people's lives, HTC has continually driven this vision by consistently introducing award-winning smartphones with U.S. wireless carriers.

Calls to HTC and Apple regarding the lawsuit were not returned.

This suit came on the heels of Nokia filing a complaint with the ITC alleging that Apple infringes Nokia patents in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players and computers.
 
The seven Nokia patents in the December complaint related to Nokia's pioneering innovations that are now being used by Apple to create key features in its products in the area of user interface, as well as camera, antenna and power management technologies (see story).

This is war
HTC learned of Apple's actions based on news stories and Apple's press release. Apparently Apple went public with the filing before HTC was even served.

Now, weeks later, HTC has finally gone public with a statement regarding its position. The company offered no details regarding when or how it plans to respond to the lawsuit.

HTC makes several phones that run on Google's Android operating system. Google and Apple are in constant battle-mode lately, as each company is doing whatever it can to get ahead in the smartphone market.

Things are really heating up now. This week Google launched a new version of its Nexus One phone that runs on AT&T, which is also the iPhone's exclusive carrier in the U.S.

Looks like Google is stepping on Apple's toes.

Expect HTC to put up a good fight against Apple, since the Taiwanese smartphone maker definately has the resources to do so. Also, Android phones are HTC's golden ticket to leadership in the smartphone arena, so running the suit is crucial for the manufacturer.

Apple's suit is evidence that the smartphone giant is trying to curb both Android and HTC's marketshare.

"HTC has always taken a partnership-oriented, collaborative approach to business,” said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America. “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.

"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," he said.

Please click here to read the entire filing and see what Apple claims HTC infringed.

Comments on "HTC declares war on Apple"

1. Paul Hollett says:

   March 20, 2010 at 3:24pm

   Macaholics are in for a rough hangover. Lawsuits tend to be a losers tactic where new technologies are concerned. It's unfortunate that Apple seems to have no proactive responce as they watch their popularity bubble deflate. HTC has proven itself an innovator in touchscreen systems with experience predating iPhone. Apple has certainly got some clever tech ... but whose team forgot multitasking on the iPad and the absurdity of Apple product battery and connectivity issues? The future of mobile devices will not be settled in court but by consumer choice ... and my own suspicion is that HTC has the upper hand and Apple knows it. Apple will not be able to stop Android and I honestly doubt can show any actual predating tech to effectively challenge HTC.

2. Noam Samson says:

   March 19, 2010 at 9:46am

   Apple is waking up to the fact that Google via Android is taking over the mobile world... It used to be the iPhone that led the pack however once Android was loaded on attractive hardware (we can all admit that HTC knows how to build phones) the tide has turned and android has taken off in a scary way (from Apple's point of view).
   
   However, Apple cannot sue Google; there are no legal grounds to sue someone just because they have a better business strategy so it’s going after Google's supply lines...
   
   Unfortunately for Apple, this lawsuit is not going to solve its business problem. This lawsuit will not change the trend. Forget Symbian, Forget Windows Mobile (WM7?) forget iPhone, (I did not even mention Blackberry... I think RIM never has been a contender since it only concentrated on the business market) the only platform that had the makings to become what Windows has become in the personal computer market is Android.