“The ITC staff’s initial position on a potential import ban against HTC’s Android-based devices was that such a sanction ‘is not contrary to the public interest,’ especially since other devices (devices made by other companies as well as HTC’s own Windows Phone-based products) could easily replace HTC’s Android devices,” Florian Mueller reports for FOSS Patents. “However, the ITC staff has softened its stance and now advocates a ‘narrow exception’ that would allow HTC’s 4G-capable Android devices to be unaffected for a period of six months following an exclusion order.”
“For HTC, being able to continue to sell 4G phones would greatly reduce the impact of an import ban (and for now it’s not even clear whether there will be an import ban at all) during the exception period. HTC already sells mostly 4G phones in the U.S. market, and in the event of an import ban against its 3G devices, consumers seeking to buy an HTC product would opt for a 4G phone,” Mueller writes. “In this scenario, HTC would benefit in another very important way from having positioned itself as the leader in 4G devices.”
Mueller writes, “From Apple’s point of view, even an import ban with an exception would be a milestone. This is the first litigation Apple ever brought against Android, and regardless of its actual business impact, Apple wants a victory that it can build upon. If one or two patents are held valid and infringed by Android, Apple can claim that Steve Jobs was right in calling Android a ‘stolen product.’ In any event, Apple will continue to assert many other patents in order to identify a set of winning patents with which it could have major disruptive impact on Android. Once Apple has its “winning team” in place, it can go against all Android device makers and, potentially, Google itself.”
Much more in the full article, including a “major factual error” in the ITC’s position, here.
Whatever it takes.
Time will tell the tale.
Steve Jobs: “I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.”
Watch our ouwn US system screw Apple (US Company) and allow the Korean based company to profit and win. Oh you can thank Google for providing that stolen product they call Android to the copy cats.
Im “thanking” google by never using any product of theirs and refusing to associate with people who do.
Get real. Every time there is a major dispute between a Canadian supplier and an American industry, the Canadian supplier loses big time.
The ITC is all about protecting American interests.
We’re invading Canada soon. Should take about a dozen or so of us. lol
Invade Canada? Didn’t the iPhone already do enough damage to BlackBerry?
Last time the states invaded Canada we beat your sorry asses and burned the white house down! Care for another round? 😉
‘strooth. How quickly they forget.
Were faster and bigger now. All this fast food we eat made us bigger, fatter, large! We’re gonna crush Canada! lol
Tell me of your homeworld, Usul..
Neither Android or HTC is Korean.
Ban Google and SamDung and HTC as well . . . . .
The staff recommendation to exclude 4G devices by HTC for 6 months is utterly ridiculous. It is based on nothing more than HTC selling approx. 50%-60% of 4G capable devices at present time. That percentage could change in 1-3 months easily.
The exception is being recommended because to ban HTC 4G devices would be to “deprive” consumers of something they demand – 4G phones. Utter nonsense. Just because the public demands something does not mean a company should be permitted to infringe upon another’s patents or property to accommodate them. Very few people have 4G phones anyway, and it’s not like 4G coverage even covers any significant portion of the U.S. yet.
Actually, if HTC is found to infringe, they will be required to stop all imports AND will be required to compensate Apple for the infringement.
Apple would win either way and the ruling of the patent infringement will stand against other Android device manufacturers.
Well Goorgle has deep pockets and someone at the ITC found out in his bank.
Sure it’s in the public interest to get stolen goods for free. Yeah! Way to go!
The public wants it so the itc says ok although it infringes apples patents
Doubtlessly the public also wants $1 first run movies …. So will the ITC think someone who pirates and sells movies for $1 is ok?
As I said before, USA’s patent system is very slow and thus half useless, I never expected Apple’s trials to really work no matter how blatant IP theft might be.
Also, most of the industry forces pressure on both ITC and courts so they would not side with the honest essence of the deal — too much money to lose for too many.
Though, of course, there is still small chance of effective win for Apple. Lets hope it will work out (even though I personally do not expect that much).
do you even know what android has “stolen” ?
i tell you an example: patent ‘647 – it is the great innovation to search text for phone numbers, addresses and the like and present the users with options what to do about.
this is not innovation this is OBVIOUS and by the way done by many others before, but it did not occur to them that it was worthy of a patent!
apple patents every tiny bit of idea in case someone has the same idea.
the sales of the 4 s demonstrate that apple will not go down before android so i think a bit of competition should not hurt.
apple just tries to get rid of all competition to be able to keep prices high. they rather spend their money on lawyers instead of making their products affordable.
i would gladly buy an iphone but not if android is half the price with same features and don’t tell me that they cannot make the iphone cheaper. they just don’t do it unless they have to.
so let android live, let apple products get cheaper and everyone wins, not just apple’s shareholders and lawyers.
If Apple had an upgradable battery for $25, if it had a bigger display, if it had an HDMI jack, if it didn’t require an old monopoly AT&T phone carrier I may consider apple. Google should charge apple any iphones access charges for services that apple requires for their phones. I just saw an ad for a 4S and it shows talking to the nav system for a business. Had that for a year on my HTC along with 4G. My unlimited plan is $79 from Sprint that is 4G and had never put in copper wires, only fiber. Apple phones are a throw away toy that are limited in expandability and when the battery dies just throw it away!