HTC Countersues Apple Over 5 Patents

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Photo: bloomsberries/flickr)

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Wednesday filed a countersuit against Apple, asking the U.S. International Trade Commission to stop imports of key products sold by the Cupertino, Calif. company. The complaint, while centering on five patents, is the latest skirmish in a proxy war between Apple and Google.

“We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly our customers that use HTC phones,” Jason Mackenzie, HTC’s vice president of North America, said in a statement. In March, Apple sued HTC, claiming the handset maker infringed 20 iPhone patents. One analyst said the move was a “warning shot” for rivals building handsets aimed at the iPhone. The ITC soon announced it had begun investigating Apple’s claims.


Noting it was the first maker of phones using the Android operating system, HTC charged “the industry should be driven by healthy competition and innovation that offers consumers the best, most accessible mobile experiences possible.”

In April, Microsoft agreed to license its smartphone patents to HTC, a decision viewed as giving the Taiwanese company a strong allie in its legal fight with Apple. Google had earlier indicated it would support its supplier in the fight with Cupertino.

[via AppleInsider]

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