“Late on Friday, an administrative law judge of the US International Trade Commission issued a determination that HTC’s Android-based devices infringe two Apple patents. This decision is not yet final, but if affirmed, HTC faces an import ban against its products in the U.S. market before the end of the year,” Florian Mueller reports for FOSS Patents. “I said on Twitter that in this scenario, HTC’s Android U.S. market share in 2012 would be 0.0%.”
Mueller reports, “I furthermore pointed out that those patents are also asserted against Motorola and I think it’s very likely that all Android devices infringe them.”
“HTC vowed to fight on and claimed that it has ‘alternate solutions,'” Mueller reports. “But can those patents really be worked around? Standing in front of the Great Wall of China, you can also vow to walk around it. That doesn’t mean it’s a viable option.”
Mueller reports, “U.S. Patent No. 5,946,647 covers a “system and method for performing an action on a structure in computer-generated data”. Like most patents, this one consists of multiple claims. In a way, each patent claim is like a patent of its own when it comes to the question of infringement. The ITC judge found that the accused HTC products infringe claims 1, 8, 15 and 19 of that patent… U.S. Patent No. 6,343, 263 covers a “real-time signal processing system for serially transmitted data”… The ITC judge found that the accused HTC products infringe claims 1, 2, 24 and 29 of that patent.”
All of the details are in the full article here.
Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports for Fortune, “When an iPhone receives a message that contains a phone number or an address — e-mail, Web or street — those bits of data are automatically highlighted, underlined and turned into clickable links. Click on the phone number, and the iPhone asks if you want to dial it. Click on the Web address, and it opens in Safari. Click on the street address, and Maps will display it.”
“Any Android phone will do the same,” P.E.D. reports. “Unfortunately for the three dozen companies that make Android devices, Apple filed for a patent on the underlying system and method that performs these actions in 1996. The patent, U.S. Patent No. 5,946,647, was one of 20 that in March 2010 Apple accused HTC, a leading maker of Android phones, of violating.”
“If HTC violated Apple’s patent ‘647, so probably have all the other Android manufacturers,” P.E.D. reports. “By Mueller’s count, this case is only one of 49 that have been filed against the Android operating system, which Google created and distributed for free to those three dozen manufacturers without, it would seem, bothering to license all the underlying technology.”
P.E.D. writes, “Google has been complaining lately that the U.S. patent system is broken — a problem it might have considered addressing before it launched Android.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we said back on March 09, 2010, “Google’s going to rue the day they got greedy by deciding to try to work against Apple instead of with them.”
Related articles:
U.S. ITC finds HTC infringed upon Apple patents – July 15, 2011
HTC decries ‘Apple’s constant attempts at litigations instead of competing fairly in the market’ – July 12, 2011
HTC stock tumbles after Apple’s new patent lawsuit – July 12, 2011
Apple’s second ITC complaint against HTC Android products dissected – July 11, 2011
Apple files second U.S. ITC trade complaint against HTC, seeks to block HTC imports – July 11, 2011
Steve Jobs loads up on high-powered legal team to protect Apple’s intellectual property – April 22, 2010
Apple’s patent infringement lawsuit: The elephant in HTC’s new headquarters – April 2, 2010
Apple patent infringement lawsuit applies pressure to HTC – March 3, 2010
Apple puts the entire industry on notice by suing HTC for patent infringement – March 03, 2010
What Apple vs. HTC could mean for the future of mobile devices – March 03, 2010
Apple looks for expedited proceedings in patent infringement case against HTC – March 03, 2010
Patent lawyer: Apple’s going after HTC first, Motorola’s next, but Google’s the real target – March 03, 2010
The specific Apple patents over which Apple is suing HTC – March 02, 2010
Boom! Apple sues HTC for infringing on 20 iPhone patents – March 02, 2010
