Apple is suing HTC for infringing patents covering handset user interface and underlying technology.
The firm says HTC has infringed on 20 patents lodged when it developed the iPhone, and has filed lawsuits against its Taiwanese rival with the ITC, and the US District Court in Delaware, seeking an injunction on sales of HTC touch-screen handsets in the US.
Specifically, the suits claim HTC has infringed on Apple’s touchscreen, user scrolling, and other technologies Several Android and Windows Mobile devices are named, including Google’s Nexus One, the T-Mobile G1, the Droid Eris, the Touch Diamond, the Touch Pro2 and the Imagio.
“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs states . “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”
Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu said the case was “an indirect lawsuit against Google,” Reuters reported.
HTC said it was examining the filings in statement e-mailed to Reuters. “HTC values patent rights and their enforcement but is also committed to defending its own technology innovations,” spokesman Keith Nowak said.