Taoyuan (ip-192.com): Taiwan based smartphone manufacturer HTC Corporation said that it did file a patent infringement case against Apple Inc. It did also ask the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) to ban all sales of iPhones, iPods and iPads in the U.S.
"As the innovator of the original Windows Mobile PocketPC Phone Edition in 2002 and the first Android smartphone in 2008, HTC believes the industry should be driven by healthy competition and innovation that offer consumers the best, most accessible mobile experiences possible," said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of North America, HTC Corporation. "We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly our customers that use HTC phones."
While HTC did not say which of its patents were violated, the countersuit follows a similar action Apple made in March when it charged HTC with infringing on 20 patents. At the time, Apple also requested that the ITC halts the sale of HTC products in the U.S.
Currently, 12 smartphones manufactured by HTC are available in the U.S., including Google’s Nexus One, the Incredible (Verizon Wireless), the Evo 4G (Sprint) and the Hd2 (T-Mobile). Since Google’s Android operating system powers many HTC devices, news outlets already speculate that Apple’s move was actually a sign of increased tension between Google and Apple.
In a separate filing dating back to October 2009, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer Nokia also alleges that the iPhone infringes on 10 of its patents. Apple hit back with a countersuit in December claiming that the Finish manufacturer infringed 13 of its patents.
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