Apple has filed a lawsuit against HTC for allegedly infringing on 20 patents related to the iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture and hardware.
The lawsuit was filed concurrently with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) and in US District Court in Delaware.
“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in an official statement.
“We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”
Meanwhile, Roger Cheng of the Wall Street Journal noted that Apple’s lawsuit against HTC “underscored” the competitive environment facing smartphone makers in both the courtroom and marketplace.
“The white-hot market has drawn a number of different players, and patent lawsuits have followed. While Apple’s iPhone remains the most high-profile device, many rivals are nipping at its heels,” opined Cheng.
Mark Kesslen of Lowenstein Sandler PC expressed similar sentiments.
“Apple’s flexing their intellectual property muscle. HTC seems to be a getting a lot of play in this space,” Kessler told the WSJ.
”The lawsuit is [clearly] a way to ‘slow’ it down.”
