14 DAY TRIAL // HTC Corporation, worldwide leading smartphone maker, has just filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC), asking for all imports and sales of Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod in the United States to be halted. According to the company, these products infringe five of its patents, and the action in question has been taken so as to protect HTC's intellectual property.
Apple sued HTC about two months ago, alleging that the smartphone maker infringes 20 of its patents, and the legal action HTC takes against the Cupertino-based company comes as a result of that lawsuit for sure. However, it’s a common fact that mobile industry companies have patent lawsuits against competitors, and there's no surprise in HTC's move (Apple and Nokia went through the same confrontation in late 2009).
As for the five patents HTC says Apple infringes with its iPhone, iPad and iPod devices, they include: - Patent #5,541,988 - Telephone dialler with a personalized page organization of telephone directory memory - Patent #6,058,183 - Telephone dialler with a personalized page organization of telephone directory memory - Patent #6,320,957 - Telephone dialler with easy access memory - Patent #6,999,800 - Method for power management of a smartphone - Patent #7,716,505 - Power control methods for a portable electronic device
One can easily notice that the first three patents are related one to another, and their description shows exactly the same: “An advanced telephone dialler has been described, incorporating a fast retrieval and dial telephone directory. The system simplifies the use of the telephone directory by using a single sliding or rotary key for scanning and selection of the name and number to be dialled and one button for speed dialling of the selected number.”
Of course, all that HTC needs to do to win the suit is to demonstrate that Apple infringes one of these patents. However, as it usually happens with this kind of actions, the lawsuit might last a couple of years before something is concluded, or the two involved companies might come to a settlement, and all charges will be dropped. A video showing HTC's advancements in the mobile market is available below. More details on the ITC complaint agains Apple can be found here.