Apple Lawsuit Bans HTC Android Handsets In U.S.

[BORTZ]

Over the last few months there have been many lawsuits going on centered around Apple patents and trademarks. Recently, Apple had major victory resulting in the ban of all HTC Android handsets. This includes the Sprint EVO 4G, Verizon Droid Incredible, AT&T Aria, and T-Mobile G2.

The decision now goes to the desk of the president, who has 60 days to issue a rarely-used veto; the ban itself will go into effect on April 19, 2012 to provide HTC with a transition period, and HTC will be allowed to import refurbished products for warranty replacement purposes until December 19, 2013.
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The patent that Apple used to win was made in 1999 [#5,946,647] and had to do with the operating system. This means it could potentially be linked to android and used against Google themselves. This is a huge victory for Apple and we will have to wait and see what HTC’s response is.

Source


Wow. I am somewhat impartial to iOS and Andriod. Theres a lot of stuff that both are doing right, and i think its important that people have a right to choose a cheaper form of smart phone (and arguable to a degree, better). I dont think this is a good turn for the mobile industry.

EDIT i know i posted this and stuff but i dont know if i believe this. Can someone confirm this? What happened? I dont understand.

MOAR down below

Spoiler

Apple won a final patent-infringement ruling that bans some HTC smart phones from the United States, bolstering efforts to prove that devices running Google's Android system copy the iPhone.​

The U.S. International Trade Commission's ban would take effect April 19 and is subject to appeal by HTC and a review by President Obama that may delay enforcement. The commission said in a notice Monday that it found HTC's Android phones infringed a patent related to data-detection technology, completing a review of a judge's findings in July.​

The ruling is the first definitive decision in the dozens of patent cases that began to proliferate in 2010 as smart-phone makers battle over a market that Strategy Analytics Inc. said increased 44 percent last quarter from a year earlier to 117 million phones worldwide. Apple has been the most aggressive in its legal efforts, trying to slow the growth of Android devices, including those made by Samsung Electronics and HTC.​

HTC, the second-largest maker of Android phones, used its partnership with Google to help transform itself from a contract manufacturer founded in 1997 in Taiwan, to the biggest U.S. smart-phone seller in the third quarter. HTC generated about $5 billion in U.S. sales last year, according to a separate patent complaint it filed at the trade agency against Cupertino's Apple. That's more than half of HTC's $9 billion in global sales last year.​

Among the HTC phones at risk of being blocked from the United States are the Nexus One, Touch Pro, Diamond, Tilt II, Dream, MyTouch, Hero and Droid Eris, according to Apple's original complaint.​

HTC phones accounted for 24 percent of the U.S. smart-phone market in the third quarter, based on shipments, Palo Alto researcher Canalys reported Oct. 31. Samsung held 21 percent of the market, and Apple 20 percent. The market is volatile, and the Apple iPhone 4s that went on sale in October and Samsung's newest Galaxy phone are likely to change the rankings for the fourth quarter.​

Apple contended in its complaint that the HTC phones infringed four patents. Administrative Law Judge Carl Charneski in July sided with Apple for two of the patents: one for a system to detect telephone numbers in e-mails so they can be stored in directories or called without dialing; and the other covering the transmission of multiple types of data. The judge determined that the remaining two patents weren't infringed.​

The six-member commission, a quasi-judicial arbiter of trade disputes with the power to block products that infringe U.S. patents, chose in September to review Charneski's findings.​

Apple has a second complaint pending before the commission that claims other HTC smart phones and Flyer tablet computers infringe five patents related to software architecture and user interfaces. Apple also has cases before the trade commission and in district courts against Samsung and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., which Google agreed to acquire in August.​

The fight can be traced back to a decision by then-Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs in March 2010 to file the HTC case, the first patent complaint by a device maker targeting Google's Android operating system. Jobs, who died Oct. 5, made it his mission "to destroy Android," which he said "ripped off the iPhone, wholesale," according to Walter Isaacson's biography of the Apple founder.​

HTC has retaliated with two trade commission cases against Apple, one submitted last year and one in August. HTC lost a preliminary ruling by a judge in the case filed last year, a decision that the commission is now reviewing. The other two cases have yet to be decided. S3 Graphics Co., a company HTC agreed to buy in July, also has two commission cases against Apple, one of which Apple won last month.​

Google, which hasn't been named in any of the Apple cases, denies copying the iPhone and said in a filing that Apple is trying to control the U.S. smart-phone market through litigation.​

Read more: http://www.sfgate.co...L#ixzz1h7JCNlO5​

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From the iDownload Blog​

It’s essentially “D-day” for HTC and its Android-flavored devices here in The States. After weeks of postponing, the ITC (International Trade Commission) has finally made a decision in the Apple vs. HTC patent dispute case.​

We told you about the lawsuit earlier this month in which Apple is suing the Taiwanese manufacturer for infringing on four of its patents. The outcome could have a huge impact on both companies. So, what did the ITC decide?​

According to ​

The Verge

, the ITC has ruled in favor of Apple. Starting April 19, 2012, HTC’s infringing products are banned from being imported into the US. The ruling applies to several products, including Sprint’s Evo 4G, Verizon’s Droid Incredible, and the T-Mobile G2.​

Nilay Patel from The Verge has more:​

“After a lengthy review, the Commission found that HTC devices infringe two claims of patent #5,946, 647, which is a system level patent issued in 1999 on analyzing and linking data structures—ultimately implicating Android itself and not HTC’s specific implementation. The decision now goes to the desk of the president, who has 60 days to issue a rarely-used veto.”​

The news has to be devastating for HTC, who has already reduced ​

its Q4 projected sales

for this year due to poor sales. Product sales in the US made up nearly half of the company’s sales last year. But it’s not going down without a fight:​

“We are gratified that the commission affirmed the judge’s determination on the ’721 and ’983 patents, and reversed its decision on the ’263 patent and partially on the ’647 patent. While disappointed that a finding of violation was still found on two claims of the ’647 patent, we are well prepared for this decision, and our designers have created alternate solutions for the ’647 patent.”​

Not only does the ITC ruling give Apple its first major court victory in its ongoing patent war against Android manufacturers, but it also gives it considerable firepower for future lawsuits. Look out Android partners.​

 

[Deleted User]

Whaaaat?! This is utterly stupid- it's madness. Madness.

 

[jrk190]

I think this is when the government should step in, this reduces the amount of options. And what about people who have already bought these phones? My friend just got one...

 

[BORTZ]

Holy shit its everywhere.

I think this is when the government should step in, this reduces the amount of options. And what about people who have already bought these phones? My friend just got one...

I know i messaged my friend. He has an EVO.

 

[RupeeClock]

This isn't how you help the economy or strive to make better products, by literally eliminating the competition by legalities...

 

[emmanu888]

APPLE YOUR GOING TOO FAR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sorry but i think its stupid whats next no more android ?

 

[jrk190]

It's about to become a monopoly...

 

[Guild McCommunist]

I think this is when the government should step in, this reduces the amount of options.

And then people would bawww about how its government socialism and undermining one patent/copyright could leave all copyrights/patents in jeopardy.

But this is rather silly, you'd think Apple would get bad rep for doing this but people will still buy their shit. Hell, the people who buy their shit are actually probably giddy with joy at depriving another consumer of an option.

If the whole Android ship really sinks though then HELLO WINDOWS PHONE.

 

[p1ngpong]

EDIT i know i posted this and stuff but i dont know if i believe this. Can someone confirm this? What happened? I dont understand.

I will just leave this here.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-12/20/apple-vs-htc

 

[SamAsh07]

I was wondering whom Apple would target next...retards. Even with the death of the egotistic Steve Jobs (with a blow) Apple don't shut up.

"Oh someone is selling better than us and might be a threat in the long run, lets find a stupid reason to sue and get them banned because you know...we own the US Government."
Yeah like literally, Apple has more money than the U.S Government or so I heard.

I think it's time the world sued Apple for using a fruits name as theirs.

 

[jrk190]

I'm already a big fan of the metro design language. I wish everything I had were like it. I have wanted a windows phone for a long time, but Verizon has to have a data plan for any good phone...

 

[ficarra1002]

I'm not surprised. They already patented the rectangle.

 

[Skelletonike]

I think people should stop supporting apple because of this. xp
Apple is being a sore loser ever since android was released, it's like windows and linux, but microsoft doesnt try and ban all linux os...

 

[jrk190]

I was wondering whom Apple would target next...retards. Even with the death of the egotistic Steve Jobs (with a blow) Apple don't shut up.

"Oh someone is selling better than us and might be a threat in the long run, lets find a stupid reason to sue and get them banned because you know...we own the US Government."
Yeah like literally, Apple has more money than the U.S Government or so I heard.

If this case was outside U.S. the story would be different.

I think it's time the world sued Apple for using a fruits name as theirs.

I can see it now-

The defender, Apple, against The Creator.
God is suing Apple for stealing the rights to a fruit he created, while Apple claims to have created the fruit.
Lol.

 

[nando]

its not going to become a monopoly. they just have to come up with something different. i'm sure they are creative enough.


i'm sure htc would be doing the same if they came up with iOS and apple came out with the iphone running on android.

 

[OJClock]

patent trolls be trollin

 

[Kioku]

Seriously? Is acting like children really the answer here? Apple? What the hell is going through your tiny minds, that makes it seem okay to do this?

 

[DinohScene]

> apple.

Stopped reading there.

They think that their god or something.... ;/

 

[Giga_Gaia]

Well, if you live in USA, you could always import one. I also notice that it's USA only and that doesn't apply to Canada.

 

[raulpica]

So, they have ACTUALLY patented something, they're losing money on it thanks to people copying their ideas, and you guys actually see Apple as the bad guy here.

...ooooh weeeell.