Post by condo3e on Sept 7, 2012 15:53:40 GMT -5
While the prehistory between Apple and Samsung is well-known, this is the story, in a nutshell, behind the looming conflict between Apple and HTC:
Apple and HTC have been embroiled in patent battles over features in smartphones since March 2010, when Cupertino, California-based Apple filed its first infringement claim at the trade agency. The case at trial yesterday, and an earlier case HTC lost at the commission, “were filed in retaliation against Apple,” McKeon said.
Apple contends phones by HTC and other competitors that run on Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android operating system copy features that make the iPhone unique. The March 2010 complaint against HTC has spread to a global war involving Apple and Android-handset manufacturers that is being contested in courts on four continents.
HTC lawyer Tom Jarvis of Finnegan Henderson said the company was the first to sell Android and 4G devices and one of the first with touch screens.
“HTC is an innovator,” Jarvis told the judge. “It’s no Johnny-come-lately.”
In this case, though, HTC acquired the patents at issue in April 2011, around the same time it began selling its first LTE phone, the Thunderbolt. The patents are part of a portfolio HTC bought for $75 million from ADC Telecommunications Inc.
“I don’t care if they bought these patents to sue you or not,” Pender told McKeon. “They are a property right.”
In a court filing, HTC said it bought the patents, which ADC said were being infringed by Apple, “to protect itself and its customers from these aggressive tactics and to preserve its ability to compete in the United States.”
Yesterday’s testimony, much of which wasn’t open to the public, focused on whether HTC is using the technology, a requirement to win the case under trade law.
“LTE products were particularly important to our strategy in 2011,” when the complaint was filed, said Martin Fichter, HTC America’s vice president of product and operations. “We’re a pioneer in that field.”
How will this play out? It is still too early to know. But in a world in which currency warfare has been going on for three years, and in which conventional trade wars are becoming more prevalent, it would be no surprise if the next round of warfare for limited consumer dollars is not fought in the FX trading room, nor in the antitrust commission, but in various patent law court rooms. Lawyers: take note.
www.zerohedge.com/news/patents-wars-2-asian-empire-strikes-back-are-tables-about-turn-apple
Apple and HTC have been embroiled in patent battles over features in smartphones since March 2010, when Cupertino, California-based Apple filed its first infringement claim at the trade agency. The case at trial yesterday, and an earlier case HTC lost at the commission, “were filed in retaliation against Apple,” McKeon said.
Apple contends phones by HTC and other competitors that run on Google Inc. (GOOG)’s Android operating system copy features that make the iPhone unique. The March 2010 complaint against HTC has spread to a global war involving Apple and Android-handset manufacturers that is being contested in courts on four continents.
HTC lawyer Tom Jarvis of Finnegan Henderson said the company was the first to sell Android and 4G devices and one of the first with touch screens.
“HTC is an innovator,” Jarvis told the judge. “It’s no Johnny-come-lately.”
In this case, though, HTC acquired the patents at issue in April 2011, around the same time it began selling its first LTE phone, the Thunderbolt. The patents are part of a portfolio HTC bought for $75 million from ADC Telecommunications Inc.
“I don’t care if they bought these patents to sue you or not,” Pender told McKeon. “They are a property right.”
In a court filing, HTC said it bought the patents, which ADC said were being infringed by Apple, “to protect itself and its customers from these aggressive tactics and to preserve its ability to compete in the United States.”
Yesterday’s testimony, much of which wasn’t open to the public, focused on whether HTC is using the technology, a requirement to win the case under trade law.
“LTE products were particularly important to our strategy in 2011,” when the complaint was filed, said Martin Fichter, HTC America’s vice president of product and operations. “We’re a pioneer in that field.”
How will this play out? It is still too early to know. But in a world in which currency warfare has been going on for three years, and in which conventional trade wars are becoming more prevalent, it would be no surprise if the next round of warfare for limited consumer dollars is not fought in the FX trading room, nor in the antitrust commission, but in various patent law court rooms. Lawyers: take note.
www.zerohedge.com/news/patents-wars-2-asian-empire-strikes-back-are-tables-about-turn-apple