Apple's Bid to Block HTC Phones Imports to be Probed

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Apple's Bid to Block HTC Phones Imports to be Probed

A U.S. trade agency today said it would investigate Apple Inc.?s patent-infringement claims against Taiwan?s HTC Corp. to determine if phones using Google Inc.?s Android operating system should be banned from the U.S.



Apple claims HTC phones infringe 10 patents related to the implementation of the operating system. It filed the complaint earlier this month with the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington.

?By instituting this investigation, the USITC has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case,? the agency said in a statement announcing the decision. Cupertino, California- based Apple claims that HTC is using Apple?s proprietary iPhone technology in its phones without permission.

Apple last year made $13 billion, or 30 percent of its revenue, from the iPhone and related services, and has become more aggressive in enforcing its patents against HTC and Nokia Oyj. Apple already is in a patent fight at the ITC with Nokia over its use of mobile-phone technology.

Taoyuan, Taiwan-based HTC plans to defend against the allegations, HTC Chief Executive Officer Peter Chou said in New Delhi yesterday.

The ITC is a government agency that investigates claims of unfair trade practices, including patent infringement. It has the power to order a ban on imports if a violation is found. It typically takes about 15 months to complete investigations.

Delaware Lawsuits

Apple also filed lawsuits in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, against HTC. Those cases are pending.

Mountain View, California-based Google is not a party in the case. It said earlier this month that it will ?stand behind our Android operating system and the partners who have helped us to develop it.?

HTC is the biggest maker of handsets using Microsoft Corp.?s Windows and was the first to offer a handset based on the Android operating system, releasing the G1 through Deutsche Telekom AG?s T-Mobile USA wireless unit. The company also manufactures Google?s first phone, the Nexus One.

The company will release at least two more Android-based phones this year and more than two that use Windows, Chou said last month in an interview.

HTC?s global market share rose to 6.9 percent of smartphone sales last year from 6 percent in 2008. That made its phones the fourth most popular. Apple, in third place, increased its share to 16 percent of the market from 11 percent. Research In Motion Ltd.?s share was unchanged, while Nokia, the No. 1 smartphone maker, lost market share.

Apple also is embroiled in a patent dispute with Nokia, the world?s largest maker of all types of mobile phones. Each has accused the other of infringing patents, and the ITC is investigating complaints that could result in import bans.

The HTC case is In the Matter of Certain Personal Data and Mobile Communications Devices and Related Software, 337-710, U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington.

Source: bloomberg.com
 
This is going to be a very long battle. It'll be interesting to see how the ITC rules, since it's the only way of stopping HTC from selling Android phones for the next 3-4 years.

I fully expect Google to hop on the back of HTC and provide support though, since any other handset manufacturer that packages Android on their phone would be equally at fault.

Apple specifically picked out HTC too, since they're the youngest of the cell phone manufacturers and have the least amount of collateral patents on their side. Nokia definitely has a ton of ammo to fight with though. I haven't looked at Google, but hopefully they have some patents which can be involved.
 
I highly doubt they'll block them, since they also have to take into account the amount of harm it would have for the cellular industry as a whole. With a lot of manufacturers hopping on the train and delivering Android products in the next year -- blocking HTC would effectively ding the entire mobile industry.

If they do end up stopping HTC, then I'm sure Nokia will step up in fill the void. They've been pushing out WiMax devices for the past 3 years, so they could easily supplant something else in the place of the EVO, albeit really crappy in comparison (unless it's an N-series WiMax device, like what they did with the n810 WiMax Edition -- they might do with the n900).
 
It looks like Apple's getting a touch of their own medicine. This company has already won a lawsuit against Synaptics over multi touch back in 2006.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/192904/apple_ipad_iphone_hit_with_multitouch_patent_lawsuit.html?tk=twt_phones
 
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