John Paczkowski

Recent Posts by John Paczkowski

HTC Countersues Apple, Seeks Ban on Import and Sales of iPhone, iPod and iPad

HTC has finally added some teeth to its “strong disagreement” with Apple’s allegations of patent infringement. This morning, the company filed suit against Apple for violating five of its patents and appealed to the U.S. International Trade Commission to halt the importation and sale of the iPhone, iPad and iPod in the United States.

“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, in a statement announcing the litigation. “We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly our customers that use HTC phones.”

The intellectual property to which Mackenzie refers here isn’t clear, since the company has not disclosed the patents it believes Apple (AAPL) violated. Which is a little odd, considering the breadth and heft of Apple’s 20 patent claim against HTC.

That HTC hasn’t announced the patents it believes Apple to have infringed seems…unusual. Unless, of course, there’s not much to them, in which case it might make sense to make a big splash with a press release that prevents observers from assessing the viability of the claims it’s making against Apple. Also unusual, the fact that HTC hasn’t yet filed a lawsuit in federal court, which might suggest a lack of confidence in its case.

HTC declined to provide me with a copy of the suit or a list of the patents involved.

Reached for comment, Apple declined to offer one, referring me to its original complaint against HTC, which can be found here.

UPDATE: Here’s a copy of HTC’s suit.

Further Reading:

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