HTC Fires Back, Suing Apple for Patent Infringement

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.htc.com/www/press.aspx?id=129616&lang=1033' target='_blank'>http://www.htc.com/www/press.aspx?i...29616&lang=1033</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"HTC Corporation today took legal action against Apple Inc., filing a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) to halt the importation and sale of the iPhone, iPad and iPod in the United States. "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." "</em></p><p>There are no specifics in this press release about exactly which patents HTC is claiming Apple infringed upon, but HTC has been in the mobile phone game for a lot longer than Apple has, so they may very well have some solid ground to stand upon. I'm guessing here that HTC is a proxy for both Google and Microsoft fighting Apple, just as Apple was using HTC as a proxy to attack Google. In the end, only the lawyers will get rich off this one...</p>

[virain]

I've been wandering if Apple makes more money in sales or suing its competition. It's about time that someone return the favor! Looks like Apple's own strategy came to bite its ass! Good for HTC

[soho_1]

The filing is public. The 5 patents HTC is alleging are infringed are (in plain language):


• U.S. Patent No. 6,999,800: Relating to a method of managing power -- on, sleep, off -- in a smartphone that includes both a phone system and a PDA.
• U.S. Patent No. 5,541,988: Relating to a telephone dialer that can store and access information in a telephone directory.
• U.S. Patent No. 6,058,183: Another telephone directory patent, this one covering a method of selecting one page from a plurality of pages.
• U.S. Patent No. 6,320,957: Still another telephone directory patent, this one specifying a way to actually make a call once the number has been located.
• U.S. Patent No. 7,716,505: A second power-management patent, this one covering a method for transferring data from volatile memory to non-volatile memory when a device enters sleep mode.

Most commentary I've seen says that these are very weak.

HTC's ho-hum case against Apple - Apple 2.0 - Fortune Tech (http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/05/12/htcs-hohum-case-against-apple/)

[soho_1]

I've been wandering if Apple makes more money in sales or suing its competition. It's about time that someone return the favor! Looks like Apple's own strategy came to bite its ass! Good for HTC

Apple's revenues are about $50 billion a year. They don't have any royalty revenues. Apple's lawsuit against HTC is not seeking royalties. They are trying to stop the use of Android's multi-touch UI.

[doogald]

Apple's revenues are about $50 billion a year. They don't have any royalty revenues. Apple's lawsuit against HTC is not seeking royalties. They are trying to stop the use of Android's multi-touch UI.

I do think that Apple is sued more than they sue.

That said, they are being rather obstinate about not cross-licensing. The Nokia lawsuit happened apparently because Apple refused to agree to cross-license patents with Nokia, and, notably, HTC just licensed technology from Microsoft for their Android phones rather than being the subject of a patent lawsuit. Clearly, Apple is not interested in gathering royalty income (or they feel, or probably know, that they make more profit with exclusive use of their patents compared with what they can earn from licensing fees.) One of these days, though, they may get hit with a lawsuit that succeeds and they may change their minds quickly.

[frankenbike]

There really needs to be a better system for challenging utility patent on issuance than using the courts. Most utility patents have closely related prior art and are a narrowing of the definition of the subject (like "multi-touch for browsing the web on a mobile phone" or somesuch). If Multi-touch is an invention originally, it should get a patent. Specific applications of multi-touch should not.

Pierre Wellner invented multi-touch screens and the "pinch" control. That should be the only patent issued for that technology. Apple should NEVER have been granted a patent on that technology in the first place. Applying it to a smaller, portable computer is a logical advancement of existing technology. That everyone is capable of doing it is proof of that concept.

Let's say a patent is issued for intermittent windshield wipers after 40 years of simple speed controls. Should there really be separate patents issued every time it's used on a different vehicle? Should there be a new patent if it's installed on a compact car or sedan? Or a truck, train, boat or airplane? Or if it's a rotary switch on the dashboard or a stick control?

[doogald]

I'm not sure that Apple has a patent for multi-touch and pinch zooming. If they do, they did not assert it in the HTC lawsuits. Well, they sort of did, but it specifically is a patent for a multi-touch device with proximity sensor - the technology that turns off the display and any touch input when you bring the device close to your face.