Full-Power PR War – Apple sues HTC Over Phone Patents
Either Apple lost their mojo, or they really just had it with the army of copycats following in their footsteps like some perverted predators. Or so it seems.
In a full-power PR war, Apple decided to protect its brand and the identity it creates within every product at all cost. While still in the middle of a legal dispute with Nokia (that sued Apple for patent infringement in October 2009, followed in December by an Apple contra-suit alleging that Nokia infringed 13 of its patents), Apple turns against one of its main competitors. Directly or indirectly, the following affects Google and their attempts to conquer the smart phone market.
The media is already speculating that Apple sued HTC because they cannot sue Google, and New York Times technology editor Nick Bilton also noted: Google was not mentioned in the suit, but the lawsuits are likely to worsen the already strained relations between Apple and Google.
Apple wants supremacy, and so they decided to sue HTC, a Taiwanese company that “produces powerful handsets that continually push the boundaries of innovation to provide true mobile freedom.”
HTC has headquarters in Washington and Taiwan, and, interestingly enough, it is the company that produced Google Nexus One. Whether in conjunction with this product or not, HTC has been accused of infringing upon 20 iPhone patents (including iPhone’s touch-screen, architecture and hardware).
“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it,” Steve Jobs said in a statement. “We’ve decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”
According to HTC, Apple initiated legal action without prior notice. Until the company has the chance to investigate the filling there will be no comments.
Note that Apple is targeting directly Nexus One, and some HTC phones running Windows Mobile. The complaints with the U.S. International Trade Commission and the federal court in Delaware seek a ban on U.S. imports, sales, and even use.
