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HTC phone ban in US as Apple wins patent battle
Reported by Dean Wilson on Tuesday, December 20 2011 11:35 pm
Apple has won a legal battle against HTC over the infringement of a mobile phone patent, which will result in a sales ban of a number of HTC devices in the United States of America.
Apple has won a legal battle against HTC over the infringement of a mobile phone patent, which will result in a sales ban of a number of HTC devices in the US.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that HTC had infringed one of the 10 patents that Apple claimed it was using without permission. The patent in question relates to a data tapping user interface feature, which lets users make use of embedded data.
Despite the loss, HTC said it was “very pleased” with the result and intends to respect it. This surprising reaction comes from the fact that HTC sees the overall verdict as being made in its favour, since nine of the patent claims were dismissed.
HTC said that the ban will cause minimal disruption for the company, as it would simply remove the feature from all of its phones. It also suggested that it might develop a workaround to achieve the same effect of the feature within the next four months.
This result is the latest in a series of legal conflicts between Apple and rival smartphone and tablet manufacturers, most notably Samsung, which recently secured a reversal to an earlier ban of its Galaxy Tab in Australia.
The HTC ban will come into effect in the US from 19 April, 2012, which is plenty of time for the company to alter its existing phones.
Source: BBC
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