HTC has sued Apple over alleged patent infringements and is aiming to block imports and sales of Apple’s products in the US.
In the latest battle of a bitter patents war spreading throughout the industry, HTC is suing Apple over infringing three patents from 2008 and 2010, with the company claiming the technology is used at the heart of Apple’s products.
The suit joins two other claims that HTC has made to the International Trade Commission (ITC) and could theoretically lead to a block on sales of iPhones and iPads in the US.
This is the third case before the ITC in which Apple is infringing our intellectual property
“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 Grace Lei, general counsel for HTC.
“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.”
The legal action comes almost a month to the day after HTC lost out in a major patents claim made by Apple. That preliminary ruling from a US trade panel agreed that HTC had infringed on two of the iPhone maker’s patents.
However, the latest action raises the stakes, with HTC filing the complaint with both a district court in the US and the ITC, which has the power to ban imports of goods found to have infringed on a company’s patents.
According to HTC, the patents at issue cover “a range of functionality embodied in Apple’s Mac computer and mobile devices that are essential to user experience, including Wi-Fi capability that allows users to wirelessly network multiple devices at home, at work, or in public”.
The suit also takes aim at Apple mobile handsets, claiming rights to “processor communication technology that enables a seamless integration of a PDA and a cellular phone into a single device providing users with a true smartphone experience”.
Apple would not comment for this story.
The announcement comes just a day after Apple saw an injunction banning sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab across Europe watered down to include only Germany.
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