14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has issued a press release announcing it has sued HTC, the well-known Taiwan-based manufacturer of smartphones based primarily on Microsoft's Windows Mobile software, but also on the Android operating system. According to the suit, HTC smartphones borrow key architecture and hardware elements from Apple’s handset.
Reproduced below is Apple’s official word on the matter, complete with Steve Jobs' statement and brief details regarding the lawsuit.
CUPERTINO, California—March 2, 2010—Apple® today filed a lawsuit against HTC for infringing on 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture and hardware. The lawsuit was filed concurrently with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and in U.S. District Court in Delaware.
“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,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”
Apple reinvented the mobile phone in 2007 with its revolutionary iPhone®, and did it again in 2008 with its pioneering App Store, which now offers more than 150,000 mobile applications in over 90 countries. Over 40 million iPhones have been sold worldwide.
In usual manner, the press release ends with Apple’s acknowledgment that it ignited the personal computer revolution with the Apple II back in the ‘70s, and reinvented the personal computer with the Macintosh, some ten years later. It doesn’t forget to mention other strong pillars of its business, like the iLife suite of applications, iTunes and iPods, as well as the revolutionary iPhone.
Softpedia readers may remember that Apple pulled a similar move in December 2009, when it countersued Nokia on similar grounds. At the time, the company’s General Counsel and Senior Vice President, Bruce Sewell, stated, “Other companies must compete with us by inventing their own technologies, not just by stealing ours.”
HTC is yet to issue a public statement.
Softpedia note
Available starting January 5th, 2010, the Nexus One is a smartphone from Google that uses the Android open source mobile operating system. It is manufactured by HTC Corporation, and has a 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen display capable of handling multi-touch gestures, much like Apple’s iPhone. It also features a scroll ball that looks and works pretty much like the one found on Apple’s Magic Mouse, although the Mac maker doesn’t say any of the infringed patents relate to its Macintosh accessories. The Nexus One also employs an accelerometer, another key feature found in Apple’s iPhone, as well as a digital compass, as found with Apple’s latest iPhone model, the 3GS.