Apple Wins Partial Victory Over HTC in Patent Suit, May Block Sale of HTC Devices

Apple has won a partial victory over HTC in the patent lawsuit it filed earlier this month. The suit alleged that HTC violated 10 patents held by Apple. Today an International Trade Commission (ITC) judge ruled in favor of Apple on two of those 10 patents.

In a statement, Grace Lei, general counsel for HTC said "This is only one step of many in these legal proceedings. The ITC's Staff Attorney independently studied the facts and argued at trial that HTC does not violate any Apple patents. Apple filed suit on 10 of its patents against HTC, but based on the judge's initial decision today only prevailed on two of those patents. HTC will vigorously fight these two remaining patents through an appeal before the ITC Commissioners who make the final decision.

We are highly confident we have a strong case for the ITC appeals process and are fully prepared to defend ourselves using all means possible. As a leading smartphone innovator for more than a decade, we develop and
acquire technology in many areas and strongly believe we have alternative solutions in place for the issues raised by Apple. We look forward to resolving this case, so we can continue creating the most innovative mobile experiences for consumers."

If an appeal isn't successful, then HTC will be forced to make a settlement with Apple, which could potentially end in several HTC devices being blocked for sale in the United States. The suit specifically targets the HTC Droid Incredible, Droid Incredible 2, Wildfire, T-Mobile myTouch 3G, T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide, T-Mobile G1, T-Mobile G2, Evo 4G, Aria, Desire, Hero, Merge, Inspire 4G, Evo 4G, Thunderbolt, and Thunderbolt 4G.

The patents that HTC has allegedly violated; however pertain to "system and method for performing an action on a structure in computer," and "real-time signal processing system for serially transmitted data."The functionality of both is not used exclusively in HTC devices. If the final ruling is in favor of Apple, it would pave the way for additional Android devices to also be banned from the U.S.

Apple currently has a similar lawsuit pending with Samsung.

http://www.technobuffalo.com/companies/apple/apple-wins-partial-victory-over-htc-in-patent-suit-may-block-sale-of-htc-devices/

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