Ina Fried

Recent Posts by Ina Fried

ITC Dismisses HTC Complaint Against Apple Over S3 Patents

The International Trade Commission on Monday said it was dropping a complaint against Apple for allegedly infringing patents held by S3 Graphics.

“Notice is hereby given that the U.S. International Trade Commission has determined that no violation of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1337) has been shown in the above-captioned investigation and that the investigation is terminated,” according to the ruling, which was posted by the Web site FOSS Patents.

Taiwanese cellphone maker HTC had scooped up S3 in hopes of strengthening its patent position against Apple, which has its own complaint against HTC before the U.S. trade body. A ruling in that case is expected next month, FOSS Patents said.

In a statement to AllThingsD, HTC said it was disappointed: “While the outcome is not what we hoped for, we will review the ruling once the commission provides it and will then consider all options, including appeal.”

The ITC had previously narrowed the scope of HTC’s case against Apple with regards to the S3 patents. HTC said that the ITC last week launched a new investigation based on a separate patent complaint filed by S3.

The battle between HTC and Apple is just one of many skirmishes dotting the mobile landscape, a battlefield that includes disputes between Oracle and Google, and Microsoft and Motorola, to name just a few.

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I think the NSA has a job to do and we need the NSA. But as (physicist) Robert Oppenheimer said, “When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and argue about what to do about it only after you’ve had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb.”

— Phil Zimmerman, PGP inventor and Silent Circle co-founder, in an interview with Om Malik