ITC to Investigate Apple Following HTC's Complaint

The International Trade Commission will investigate Cupertino-based Apple, following a May complaint from Taiwanese mobile phone maker HTC Corporation. According to the handset vendor, Apple's products infringe five of its patents related to cellphone directory hardware and software and to power-management technology in mobile devices.

As per a recent article on Reuters, ITC will take up the investigation, which concerns “certain portable devices and related software.” HTC filed the complaint with ITC back in May, when it asked the Commission to ban the imports of Apple's products in the country, including the sales of iPhone, iPad and iPod devices, which are being manufactured in other states.

The HTC complaint against Apple followed a suit filed by Apple against the handset vendor. The maker of the iPhone went to ITC in March with claims that HTC infringes a series of its patents related to mobile technologies, and also filed a suit against the mobile phone manufacturer with the U.S. District Court in Delaware, alleging the same.

At that time, the move was seen as an attempt from Apple to hit Google and its Android operating system, even if Google was not named explicitly in the suit. The Android platform is being used to power mobile phones from other handset vendors too, including Samsung Electronics or Motorola, and is seen as the main competitor against Apple's iPhone, and the company's move was seen as clear proof of its intentions.

Legal disputes are rather common in the smartphone market, and Apple is being subject of some of them already. Late last year, the company entered a legal battle with Finnish handset vendor Nokia, both of them claiming that the other infringed certain patents. ITC has become a common destination for these patent infringement disputes too, as the Commission can ban imports of certain handsets in the country.