HTC Calls For iPhone Sales Ban in New Patent War

Lawsuits are rife in the world of mobile phone manufacturers. Now that it's becoming a major player in the market, HTC is unleashing patent warfare against Apple, a firm which is in turn embroiled in an on-going case against the world's leading manufacturer, Nokia.

With new smartphones cropping up left, right and centre, manufacturers are all trying to keep the competition at bay by placing as many obstacles as possible in the way of anyone who tries to knock their handsets off the top spot. One of the favourite spanners heavyweight brands like to throw into the works of their rivals is a lawsuit for violation of patent rights.

We've been aware of the on-going legal warfare between Nokia and Apple for a while now, and Apple also took HTC to court last year for violating no less than twenty patents covering different parts of the brand's star product, the iPhone, including the pinch-to-zoom function.

Attack is the best form of defence

HTC, it seems, didn't take too kindly to Apple's lawsuit, and is now attacking Apple back for violating five of its patents. The Taiwanese manufacturer is even going as far as to request a total ban on sales of the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch in the US. "We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industrial partners, and most importantly our customers that use HTC phones", explained Jason Mackenzie, vice-president of HTC in North America.

With several Android smartphones already under its belt and a competitive pricing strategy, HTC has a solid and hard-eared reputation in the mobiles market. The brand's growing profile is being further bolstered by the increasing success of Android stateside. In fact, in the first quarter of 2010, the Google OS actually overtook Apple's OS in terms of popularity in the US, according to a study by the NPD Group. This study, however, hasn't gone unnoticed by Apple, and the firm spoke out against this research institute's report, arguing its findings were merely based on a survey of around 150,000 consumers rather than actual handset sales.

In any case, HTC is a serious new competitor for Apple, as well as other heavyweights in the sector like Nokia and Blackberry. It looks like HTC is set to become a hardcore brand in the mobile market, as well as a major player in the complicated business of mobile patent lawsuits.



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