HTC Beats Back Apple in U.K. Patent Skirmish

HTC has emerged the victor in another of its patent battles with Apple.

On Wednesday, the U.K.’s High Court ruled that HTC does not infringe the four patents Apple asserted against it. It also found three of those four patents — for slide-to-unlock, multitouch and multilingual keyboard capability — to be invalid, partly due to their obviousness.

The ruling, which follows by days another HTC victory over Apple before the International Trade Commission, means the Taiwanese company is free to continue importing its smartphones into the U.K.

But the broader battle is far from over. Apple has asserted the same four patents against HTC in Germany.

That said, as FOSS Patents points out, the High Court ruling may well improve HTC’s chances of prevailing in Munich. Said FOSS Patents’ Florian Mueller, “The U.K. decision makes it even less likely that the Munich court, which was skeptical of Apple’s arguments anyway, would be persuaded now.”