SEATTLE--HTC's acting President of North America Martin Fichter admitted that the company is looking at InterDigital's patent portfolio, but said it is just part of the company's strategy to do "everything necessary to protect ourselves."
Fichter, speaking at the Mobile Future Forward conference here, also admonished the wireless industry for its current frenzy of patent lawsuits. "The industry needs to relook at what we do with patents and stop ourselves from wasting this energy that should be put toward putting new technology in customers' hands."
Bloomberg reported last week, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, that Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC), HTC, Intel and Samsung are among the companies that are reviewing confidential InterDigital data in advance of making bids on the company. InterDigital announced recently it would consider strategic alternatives including a sale of the company.
Interestingly, HTC is embroiled in its own patent battle. The company is using patents it bought from Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) to extend its patent-infringement suit against Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).
Fichter also reiterated comments made by the company's chairwoman Cher Wang, who told the Economic Observer of China that the company has talked about buying its own mobile phone operating system, but is not in a hurry to do so. "HTC is always interested in doing the right thing," Fichter said. "Yes we are looking at options to provide more choice."
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