Apple has stepped up the mobile lawsuits and popped one on HTC for supposedly infrnging 20 Apple patents. When will it ever end? Thanks to Trevor.
From NYT- “Apple said on Tuesday that it had filed lawsuits against HTC, the Taiwan-based phone maker, accusing it of infringing on 20 Apple patents tied to the iPhone.
The suits, filed with the office of the United States International Trade Commission and the United States District Court in Delaware, say HTC violated patents covering the phone’s user interface, internal architecture and hardware.
HTC makes the Nexus One, a phone designed and sold by Google that runs Google’s Android operating system. Google was not mentioned in the suit, but the lawsuits are likely to worsen the already strained relations between Apple and Google.
Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, said in a news release: “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.” Mr. Jobs added: “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”
How’s times change…
Kudos to Apple, they finally decided to put their feet down. I knew there was a reason why all the newer SmartPhones had a similar look and feel. At the time I really couldn’t put a finger on it…but now it’s dawned on me… =) j/p I think when this is all said and done, and the dust have settled, Apple will have created a bigger and better device, and someone else will once again be playing catch up and trying to replicate Apple’s success.
blah, blah and Nokia have sued Apple for all the stuff they refused to pay licences for.. And life goes on as usual in the lawsuit happy corporate world…
you can see a list of patents below..
http://gizmodo.com/5483632/apple-sues-htc-for-infringing-on-20-iphone-patents?skyline=true&s=i
actually most of it has prior art that I have seen or owned in earlier devices, so it will be interesting to see the outcome..
No one will win in the end. They will all have to give in on some parts and win on others. Ultimately they will all end up agreeing, or agreeing to disagree.
I can’t believe some of these things listed as patents (via Engadget). Who grants them? “Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image”. Well that’s a piece of big genius innovation.
And Philippa what bothers me more are the ones I know have clear prior art.. All these types of patents do is stiffle competition as only big companies can afford the associated lawsuits, which often get settled early or dropped anyway due to prior art or other considerations.. But smaller companies don’t risk it against these monsters (I am not saying this is unique to apple at all, they are just todays example).
Patents seem to be given for everything no matter how minor and not enough prior art research is done IMO.