Seattle –
Cash-rich HTC, apparently fed up with Apple’s patent-infringement suits, has
filed one of its own patent complaints against Apple.
The smartphone
maker filed the complaint with the United States International Trade Commission
(ITC) and the U.S. District Court of Delaware, alleging patent infringement by
Apple’s Mac computer product lines as well Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod
product lines.
The patent issues
cover a range of functions said to be “essential to [the] user experience,”
including Wi-Fi functionality that lets users network multiple devices at home,
at work or in public. Another function is processor communication technology
that enables the seamless integration of a cellphone and PDA to create a smartphone
experience, HTC said.
The action follows
an ITC complaint filed recently by Apple alleging infringement of five patents
involving such things as user interfaces, motion sensors and touchscreen
hardware.
In a separate
action started by Apple, an ITC administrative law judge recently upheld two of
four patent claims lodged by Apple, but HTC said it was confident the full
commission will toss the two complaints when it reviews the decision.
“We are taking this action against Apple
to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners and most
importantly our customers that use HTC phones,” said HTC general counsel Grace
Lei. “This is the third case before the ITC in which Apple is infringing our
intellectual property. Apple needs to stop its infringement of our patented
inventions in its products.”
