Apple is on a fight against the world it seems (albeit Microsoft is no angel) when it comes to smartphone patents (and insane term trademarks). I must admit that I find it strange, not to mention anyone who's not familiar with the ins and outs of smartphone technology who could wonder "wouldn't this be the same if Sony were to sue Microsoft over competing with the PlayStation?" The fruit company is after HTC again with their products running the Android OS.
What has this got to do with our platform? Well, there's no touching OEMs on Windows Phone since everything's protected (if you will) by Microsoft so HTC is comfortably wrapped in Ballmer Bubblewrap. Google, on the other hand, offers no protection (or indemnification) for OEMs and partners with their platform. HTC is a loved WP7 manufacturer, so we hate to see anything negative happen to them.
Affected products include 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, Thunderbolt 4G, and the HTC Flyer tablet
The ITC () is looking into Apple's request for an investigation be started under section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 against HTC imports. They will provide a conclusion as to whether an investigation is to be undertaken within 30 days. Peter Chou, CEO of HTC, defended the company against Apple's claims:
HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself. HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible.From day one, HTC has focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that deliver unique value for people looking for a smartphone. In 1999 we started designing the XDA(i) and T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition(ii), our first touch-screen smartphones, and they both shipped in 2002 with more than 50 additional HTC smartphone models shipping since then.
Source: TheNextWeb
