“Device manufacturers view the ITC as a more efficient and aggressive arbiter of patent disputes than overstretched federal courts, which can sometimes take years to bring conflicts to resolution,” Hesseldahl reports. “In its complaint at the ITC, Apple says Taoyuan (Taiwan)-based HTC infringes 10 patents mainly related to the software that runs smartphones. HTC was the first electronics maker to sell a phone based on the Android operating system, developed by a Google-led group of companies
“Companies often file patent lawsuits in U.S. district courts around the same time they file complaints at the ITC. On Mar. 2, Apple also filed a lawsuit alleging infringement of 10 other patents in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Del. “The ITC is well-known for its expedited proceedings,” says Thomas Jarvis, a partner at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, a Washington-based law firm that often represents clients before the ITC,” Hesseldahl reports. “Jarvis says it takes on average about 7 to 10 months to get a hearing at the ITC, and about two years to get to trial in district courts.”
Hesseldahl reports, “The ITC issues so-called ‘exclusion orders,’ instructions to U.S. Customs & Border Protection to prevent the import of products that infringe patents. The ITC cannot order an infringing company to pay monetary damages. Chien studied ITC rulings from 1995 to 2007 and found that in cases where it found infringement, it issued exclusion orders 100% of the time.”
Read more in the full article here.
Exclusion Oders 100% of the time?!! I hope HTC has $49B in the bank for a settlement.
Is Apple being a Bully in this suit? I don´t think so.
Apple does have a big advantage on the smartphone market even if Google, Palm, Microsoft or any other competitor copies the iPhone technology. I don´t think Apple would sue HTC if it was just the phone competition. No need and too much trouble.
In my opinion, Apple is suing HTC because all these copycats now have the potential to come up with a tablet device before Apple gets the first mover advantage in the iPad market It is no secret that Google is working on tablet computers and if they come up with a competitive one with Apple´s own technology in the package, it could really be a problem. Specially if Google keeps giving away the OS, even when some of the technology is Apple´s.
If it was my call, I would also be suing HTC. And probably others would follow.
Just my $0.02
@ Touch:
Sorry, you’re wrong. Apple can’t sue HTC for a product which isn’t released yet. HTC hasn’t violated any Apple patents for a tablet computing device because HTC doesn’t make one.
This is about the iPhone, but any decision will have after effects for tablet computers as well. Certainly manufacturers will think twice before putting something on the market.
An interesting note: Many contracts have provisions in them which state that the software developer is responsible for any liability brought on by patent or license violations. So even though Apple is suing HTC, this may affect Google more severely because Google could be on the hook to pay for HTC’s legal defense or any damages suffered by HTC as a result of the lawsuit. I don’t know if the Android agreements contain such provisions, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they did.
…”Google could be on the hook to pay for HTC’s legal defense or any damages suffered by HTC as a result of the lawsuit”
Not necessarily. Google made Android “open source” and available to manufacturers for free. I would expect that the license that comes with the distribution precludes anyone who uses it to sue Google for any possible patent infringement.
This can still be going against Google, though. If Android contains patent-infringing technology, handset vendors will quickly have to abandon it, thereby limiting Google’s exposure in the mobile space.
@ bizlaw
I may not have explained myself clearly, but the idea is in the message.
Of course HTC can not be sued for a product not yet in the market. But if the Android OS is stopped, the iPad has an open ocean of possibilities in a new market. Otherwise the competition starts from day one and that is clearly not fair after Apple developed most of the technology.
Would Google be liable for providing software to HTC that forces them to infringe on Apple Patents? e.g. If Android forces (or entices) a hardware manufacturer to include patent infringing implementation(s) of hardware?
@ bizlaw, I think Touch meant that Apple may only be suing over the iPhone patent infringement to protect a larger potential market in tablets.
I’m not sure I agree with that. The phone market is huge and worth protecting in and of itself. Plus — just on principle — I think Apple is tired of investing in innovation, only to have their work copied.
Remember what mobile phones and smartphones were like before Apple got involved?
Without Apple re-thinking the whole widget, it’s not clear they market would ever have gotten from there to here.
I would say Apple is suing HTC because it is the first battle of a war on Android. Android is an offshoot of Linux. No doubt Apple and NeXT have probably known for a longtime that Linux infringed on their patents.
Now Linux is not direct competition to Apple. You buy Macs with OS X, even if you install Linux on a Mac you still paid for the Mac. So Apple is not effected. But now with Android being in direct competition with iPhone Apple is making it’s move.
Google does not sell Android so Apple will not directly go after Google. Instead Apple will go after successive Android phone manufacturers forcing disruptions in product development and reengineering/programming.
If Apple’s patents withstand scrutiny it strengthens Apple and gives them more leverage against their next opponent.
Schmidt looks really conniving now after sitting on Apple’s board.
Imagine what he knows about Apple having been on the inside…it’s just plain dangerous and almost inexcusable to let him be part of major decisions.
Now we know why he excused himself so quickly…he was playing double-agent.
Google has way too many irons in the fire, and they are going to get a major spanking. They should focus on Bing instead.
Even M$ was smart enough to focus just on their OS and not into PC hardware. Apple is a hardware company first, and Google leaped into Apple’s territory with their own branded hardware phone, and it will hurt this good anti-M$ relationship.
Didn’t Nokia try to have an Import Exclusion Order enforced against the iPhone?
If so, this is a delicious tactic by Apple, to use the very weapon of its enemy against its other enemy, and maybe eventually use an Import Exclusion Order against Nokia itself.
Picture Apple executives now smiling as they sip Brandy while sitting in front of a giant fireplace in a huge, luxurious boardroom anteroom.
Steve Jobs and/or Tim Cook must be (a) fantastic chess player(s).
MDN Word “serious”, as in;
“For Apple’s copiers and detractors, now, it’s getting …”
@NHL
Apple already has a countersuit against Nokia. Were have you been?