By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
Just as the legal battle with Samsung and Amazon has died down, HTC is now in the hot seat as Apple is suing the world's 4th largest handset maker for infringing on its patents related to smartphones and the recently released HTC Flyer Tablet.
According to reports, Apple is targeting over a dozen HTC Android smartphones and the HTC Flyer tablet. Apple intends to block the sales of those Android handsets as it claims they are infringing on Apple’s patents. HTC's stock dropped by 4.4 per cent and hit a 5 month low in Taipei as a direct result of the lawsuit and its perceived effect on HTC's business.
HTC responded by stating that it will, “vehemently deny all of Apple’s past and present claims against it and will continue to protect and defend its own intellectual property as it has already done this year.” This is the second time Apple has sued HTC for similar patent infringement. If Apple wins, importation of HTC's smartphones and the Flyer tablet to the US could be halted.
Apple, together with Microsoft, RIM, Ericsson, Sony and EMC recently formed a coalition to bid against Google and Intel for 6,000 of Nortel Networks' telecoms, Internet, data and assorted technology patents. HTC is a major Google partner in Android devices.
The multi-company group paid a $4.5 billion for the cache of Nortel patents which can be used in cases such as this one against HTC and the recent cases against Samsung and Amazon.
Source: Ubergizmo