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HTC says it uses own technology, not Apple's

HTC defended itself against accusations of patent infringement by Apple

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Smartphone maker High Tech Computer (HTC) on Wednesday defended itself against accusations of patent infringement by Apple, saying it develops its own technology.

The Taiwanese company, the world's largest maker of smartphones that use Google's Android mobile operating system, including the Nexus One, has been building mobile devices including smartphones for 13 years, "and so HTC is not only a mobile technology innovator, [we] also hold a large number of patents," the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. 

HTC will work with the U.S. justice system to protect its own innovations and rights, it said, adding that it does not believe the Apple lawsuit poses a threat to its business in the short-term.

Apple filed a patent infringement lawsuit Tuesday in the U.S. against HTC, claiming that the Taiwanese company is infringing 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone user interface, underlying architecture and hardware.

The immediate impact of the suit was to send HTC stock down 2 percent, or NT$6.5, to close at NT$323.5 (US$10.10) on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

Apple's filing includes smartphones from HTC that use Google's Android OS as well as some that run Microsoft's Windows Mobile OS. 

Technology companies often file infringement lawsuits against each other, sometimes for legitimate claims and sometimes as a ploy to harm a rival's business. Smartphone vendors have been actively filing lawsuits against each other.

Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone vendor, sued Apple last October over the alleged infringement of 10 patents. Apple turned around and sued Nokia over claims of its own.

Comments received


greendave said on Wed, 03 Mar 2010

Similarity between HTC Android phones and the iPhone - surely not, I'm sure the HTC phone was designed in complete isolation from the world and it is a mere co-incidence that it looks and feels just like an iPhone.

credit to Palm for at least doing something different - unfortunately they are not selling because they don't act just like an iPhone.

Apple may just have a point about the effect on their business of the 'clones' of the iPhone OS - since nothing else really sells now.

Macdemon said on Wed, 03 Mar 2010

Seems like a case of sour grapes......Just got on with it Apple!!

Hurry up and release the 4th gen. iPhone and leave HTC in the dark.

We never see car manufactures sueing each other over patent infringements

Its just plain childish IMHO.

What does everyone else think??

@Macdemon said on Wed, 03 Mar 2010

It's easier and quicker to copy than to innovate. The problem is if the copier becomes more successful than the innovator because it didn't spend the last 5 years in the lab (put hand to mouth and cough the word microsoft :-) ) Then there's no innovation any more and you'd be left with using stylus phones like a slightly updated Windows 6.

Apple doesn't generally sue other companies for copying the odd thing here and there. (It's usually the other way around) It's when a company blatantly copies a whole concept and 20 patents at the same time.

Steve Jobs did say, when he introduced the iPhone, that they patented loads of things on it because at that time they were about 5 years ahead of everyone else. It's easy to navigate through a minefield after someone was brave enough to walk the initial path. (© Dragonfly 2010 :-) )



Haku said on Wed, 03 Mar 2010

I could be wrong, but I believe that if you don't defend patents you end up losing them by default. Apple has to defend them if it thinks others have wandered onto areas they own patents on. If the court then decides the original patent was bogus, then that's fine, but if Apple doesn't defend its patents they lose them whether they were valid or not.

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