Apple has just filed a complaint about HTC with the International Trade Commission (ITC). If successful it could see a complete ban on HTC products being sold in the USA. Apple state that HTC are illegally using patents relating to “scrolling operations”, “double-sided touch-sensitive panels” and “programmable tactile touch-screen displays”.
HTC have already responded to the action, with Grace Lei, HTC’s general counsel, stating..
HTC is dismayed that Apple has resorted to competition in the courts rather than the market place. HTC continues to vehemently deny all of Apple’s past and present claims against it and will continue to protect and defend its own intellectual property as it has already done this year.
Apple has also recently filed a complaint against Samsung.
Link – BBC News
The rights. The mobile giant fields are so important. Nokia and Samsung, Lg, Sony.Blackberry seems to be at least
The Iphone is past its best now, call its iphone 5 and give it a new case and a few more apps built in, but underneath its so far behind android and wp7. There has been no improvement to the ui since the day it was launched.
sad that apple have to try and scare away the competition
Love them or hate them, Apple bring to the market what others fail to. The iphone, although not the first touch screen handset, was certainly the game changer, where everyone followed suit and brought out similar designs at often cheaper prices. The iphone may be old hat, but it’s still sells, and the fact their updates and Apps are compatible with nearly all their handsets (Android take note) keeps current customers happy.
Apple did it again with the iPads, with competitors bringing out their own variations after Apple to try and offer cheaper alternatives and steal the market Apple more or less create. Apple have just power over the market, most competitors don’t release anything until Apple have, and most of the time, those products are just similar, cheaper variations. Those companies that try, seem to fail (Sony Xperia Play?).
With that said, why shouldn’t Apple protect the features and patents their products deliver?
Why did it take you 2 paragraphs of fanboi bullshit to ask a single question?
Just because someone can see them trying to protect their products from copycats, why does that automatically make me a “fan boi”? FYI don’t even own a single Apple device
We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.
Depending on which two patents HTC infringes and on whether the Commission affirms the ALJ’s decision, this could in a worst-case scenario result in a shutdown of many or even all Android-based HTC products in the U.S. market. In a less extreme scenario, HTC might have to remove certain functionality from its products, and that could result in a significant degradation of the user experience and quality of those devices.booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmm
There’s no doubt that Apple do bring fresh ideas to the table but they’re just as guilty of copying too, the most recent example being notifications, the lockscreen and the quick access camera in iOS 5.
Nice post!
Most of Apples patents are nonsense (Well, those that are quoted in these lawsuits. I am sure they have plenty of legitimite patents too – before I get flamed.). Based on such vague ideas, rather than specific ways of implementing those ideas. And it seems that it is only in the US where these ridiculous patents are granted. The US really need to giver there patents process a serious overhaul, and kick all this sh*t to the kerb.
Hmmm! I note the comscore figures Geary posted earlier! Are Apple running scared?
It annoys me when people point out the functions their apple device can do that windows mobile owners have been doing for years. No one can deny that Apple greatly raised the bar when it came to their UI but they have more than reaped the benefits of this within the market place and their Patent Law Dept should perhaps take a chill pill. Much of the popularity of these products has also come from the general catching up of “Joe Public” to the convenience of mobile data and apps that Winmo and Symbian owners have enjoyed for ages. Apple may have given the wheel a lick of paint but they certainly did not invent it.
apple are not happy because htc make better phones. the apple iphone is rubbish anyway! HTC Sensation, all the way.