HTC Corporation has taken legal action against Apple Inc., filing a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) to halt the sale and importation of the iPhone, iPad and iPod in the United States. This is coming on the heels of Microsoft going after most of the mobile industry by going after Android OS. Of course, HTC is protected through a deal which pays Microsoft royalties for using Android. Wrap your head around that one. The announcement from HTC reads very similar to the one issued by Microsoft just a short while ago:
As the innovator of the original Windows Mobile PocketPC Phone Edition in 2002 and the first Android smartphone in 2008, HTC believes the industry should be driven by healthy competition and innovation that offer consumers the best, most accessible mobile experiences possible,” said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of North America, HTC Corporation. “We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly our customers that use HTC phones.”
We also have to remember the fact that Apple originally filed suit against HTC earlier this month, alleging infringement on some 20 patents. HTC may get some support in that suit from Microsoft because of their close ties, though. Nokia has also filed a similar suit against Apple, siting that Apple has violated 10 of its patents.
It seems like these companies have had some pent up frustrations over the years. Its nothing new that these mobile technologies share similar features, but it’s not clear exactly what is causing this recent burst of hostility and legal action. This is only the tip of the iceberg as far as lawsuits in the mobile arena go. The connections between hardware manufacturers, software developers, carriers, and other players are pretty confusing to say the least and it seems that something has disturbed the fragile ecosystem.
As for HTC, the young company say its committed to innovation. The currently offer 12 different handsets among carriers in the United States and plan to continue expanding and diversifying their portfolio. No one can deny that HTC is a major player in the game and makes some of the hottest devices out there. We can only hope that they don’t take any major damage from going at it with the likes of Apple.