“A U.S. trade agency said it will review a judge’s finding that HTC Corp. infringed two Apple Inc. patents, a decision that could lead to a ban of HTC’s Android-based phones in the country,” Susan Decker reports for Bloomberg.
“An ITC judge determined July 15 that HTC’s Android-based smartphones infringed two Apple patents, while no violation occurred for two others,” Decker reports. “The six-member commission will review infringement and validity on all four patents and whether a correct interpretation was made on terms within three of the patents, according to a notice yesterday on the ITC’s website.”
Decker reports, “Apple, the world’s biggest smartphone maker, has accused Taoyuan, Taiwan-based HTC of ‘stealing’ its iPhone and iPad technology and using it in devices that run Google Inc.’s Android operating system… Apple has another commission complaint pending, filed in July, that also targets HTC’s phones and Flyer tablets.”
“About 36 percent of Android smartphones in use in the U.S. were made by HTC, according to the filing,” Decker reports. “‘The exclusion of HTC accused devices from the U.S. market would not only eliminate the most popular brand of smartphones using Android, the fastest-growing mobile operating system, but would also impact the public health, safety, and welfare concerns of individual U.S. consumers,’ HTC said.”
MacDailyNews Take: Cough – bullshit – cough! Unless they mean positively impact the public health, safety, and welfare concerns of individual U.S. consumers: As in, their bank accounts will be secure for a change.
Decker reports, “Apple said in an Aug. 25 filing there is no shortage of smartphones on the market and HTC could replace lost Android sales with phones the company makes using Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Phone operating system.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
HTC considers purchase of mobile operating system – September 12, 2011
Google the real target in Apple’s increasingly effective patent war against Android-based OEMs – August 12, 2011
U.S. ITC to review Apple patent infringement complaint against HTC Flyer tablets – August 9, 2011
IDC: Apple now the world’s #1 smartphone vendor – August 4, 2011
Then they could resurrect Joe Isuzu to sell the Windows phones. “Yeah, that’s right, these phones are the best!”
What happened with all off the hundreds of patents Steve said Apple filed for the iPhone at the keynote? I thought they were filed to have a lot of weapons against scums like HTC.
Hat do youthink is the basis for Apple’s lawsuits?
I’m sure if HTC violated 100’s of Apple patents that those would be included. Evidently, HTC violated only a few of them.
Duh!
Too complex (time consuming & expensive) to open with 100s of patents. You’d use the ones know you can win with, and that you want to create a precedent for, first.
Plus you know you’ve got a few more to throw at it later if for some reason you’re not successful.
More research would reveal that separate legal challenges to protect other Apple patents (such as touchscreen multi-point gestures and trade dress) also are winding their way through different court systems. This particular case against HTC involved two of Apple’s more obscure patents, and a ruling happened to come before the others. My guess is that Apple purposely separated the legal cases against the various patent infringers so that a delay or setback in a single case could not bog down their entire legal strategy — which is to stop Google’s patent infringements as quickly as possible. Once any single patent is upheld by the courts and the ITC, Apple gains leverage against Google and all Android vendors. Still, multi-point gestures and trade dress are among the most important cases. All this is going to take a few months, maybe even years, to sort out.
“…but would also impact the public health, safety, and welfare concerns of individual U.S. consumers,’ HTC said.”
Huh? That’s a bit of a stretch. The Apple police will not take HTC phones out of the hands of those who currently suffer with them.
Are you still bullish on Google?
Consider these facts.
Google depends on its ability to sell others all it can glean about you in cyber space for use in ‘ targeted advertising’. You are the product they are mining to make billions of dollars on.
The European Union has said this isn’t right and exposes individuals to abuse. Duh, it took the governments long enough to figure out that wasn’t right! So they have begun passing laws to protect Europeans from data mining which has promptly killed the effectiveness of Google’s business model. The ad people see Google ads as becoming 65% less effective as before pre ban.
This killer search regulation limiting data mining is now being considered by the Obama administration for new laws protecting US citizens in cyber space to Google’s dismay.
Google stole the idea for Android from Apple’s iPhone’s technology so they could own the future of mobile computing by having a captive user carrying the Google leash and collar everywhere. Now that Apple is getting bans on Google Android products that have played fast an loose with Apple IP technology as if it was their own, suddenly Google sees another part of their grand scheme of owning people drying up with the threat of Android disappearing as we know it.
Others are taking Android and removing the Google leash and every thing objectionable about Android like our heroes at Amazon.com. But to the future dismay of Amazon customers the apps have to come from Amazon not the Google leash marketplace.
China and a host of others including Dell have new versions of Android that have no Google at all in them.
GMail has been one of the best ‘free’ email systems on the planet. Gmail is facing new competition and people who do not want to be ‘the product’ defecting. This defection may become a landslide with Apple’s new iCloud and free email from Apple that glues everything together.
Google wants everyone to ditch Facebook for their new social networking service. To make the leash and collar more valuable to Google themselves they need to know everyone’s real identity to make it more profitable to track them as individuals in society.
It also enables dangerous real life stalkers
Only the real fools who would not mind living in the fictional world of 1984 see no problem with that, mostly the class who I have seen dreisivly called Android porch monkeys that can’t think who are like fish snared by the ‘free bait’.
Google’s future along with the desperate attempt to save their business model by buying up smaller companies at outrageous prices seems doomed to failure.
Sometime soon Google shareholders may realize they too have been duped by an illusionary future that has failed. Then it will really hit the fan.
Great breakdown !!! Die Google Adroid!
Oh God… I can just hear the Androidfanbois squeal in horror.
Great job breaking it down piece by piece MacDaKnife
So this is against all HTC Android phones? HTC introduces about one new model a week (and probably retires other models at the same rate), so there is no way the courts could stay on top of that.