Taoyuan,
Taiwan – An International Trade Commission (ITC) administrative law judge
upheld two of four patent claims lodged by Apple against rival HTC, but HTC
said it was confident the full commission will toss the two complaints when it
reviews the decision.
Apple had originally claimed HTC
violated 10 patents when it filed its complaint in 2010, but the six of the
claims were later dropped, HTC said.
“We are highly confident we have
a strong case for the ITC appeals process and are fully prepared to defend
ourselves using all means possible,” said Grace Lei, HTC’s general counsel.
Although the company hadn’t yet read the judge’s full opinion and analysis, HTC
said “the ITC’s staff attorney independently studied the facts and argued at
trial that HTC does not violate any of the 10 Apple patents.”
In addition, Lei said, “We
strongly believe we have alternate solutions in place for the issues raised by
Apple.”
A final determination by the
commission is due in early December.
In a separate ITC complaint filed by Apple in
recent weeks against HTC, Apple alleged infringement of five patents involving
such things as user interfaces, motion sensors and touchscreen hardware. In
response, HTC stressed that it introduced its first touchscreen smartphone in
June 2002 before Apple’s introduction of its iPhone in 2007.
Recently, Apple and Nokia
, but other suits involving Apple remain open. Earlier
this year,
in a California federal court against Samsung, alleging the
Korean electronics manufacturers’ Galaxy S smartphones and its Galaxy Tab knock
off the look and feel of Apple’s competing products. Samsung fired back at
Apple, filing lawsuits in overseas courts alleging that Apple violated 10 of
its smartphone and computer patents.
Last October, Motorola Mobility launched three
patent suits against Apple over the same patents. Apple countersued.
