Apple sues HTC, but suit seems more about Android
On Tuesday, Apple announced it had filed a lawsuit against HTC, a smartphone OEM, for patent infringement. Apple claims that HTC infringed on 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture and hardware. The lawsuit was filed concurrently with the U.S. District Court in Delaware and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).
Interestingly, for those who think this is all about Android, it’s just mostly about Android. The filing named not just Android devices like the Nexus One (above) and the Droid Eris, but the WM devices Touch Pro2 and Imagio.
Of course, these are all primarily touch screen devices, which is what the iPhone is.
In Apple’s press release, Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs said:
“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”
Apple made these sorts of comments about Palm’s Pre and multi-touch when the Pre was announced. While the Palm webOS hasn’t taken off, Android has, and the latest devices (such as the Nexus One) include multi-touch. Of course, that’s just one of the issues.
Many analysts think the sheer number and variety of Android devices will eventually lead to Android overtaking the iPhone. Already, the platform is making major inroads into market share.
Apple’s App Store has far more apps than the Android Market, and some developers writing apps that connect to credit card accounts and the like will never write for anything but the iPhone. Still, Android has reached critical mass in terms of apps, and there are plenty for just about anyone, and no draconian App Store approval process, either.
Here are the patents involved:
- The ’331 Patent, entitled “Time-Based, Non-Constant Translation Of User Interface Objects Between States,” was duly and legally issued on April 22, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
- The ’949 Patent, entitled “Touch Screen Device, Method, And Graphical User Interface For Determining Commands By Applying Heuristics,” was duly and legally issued on January 20, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ’949 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit B.
- The ’849 Patent, entitled “Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image,” was duly and legally issued on February 2, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ’849 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit C.
- The ’381 Patent, entitled “List Scrolling And Document Translation, Scaling, And Rotation On A Touch-Screen Display,” was duly and legally issued on December 23, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ’381 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit D.
- The ’726 Patent, entitled “System And Method For Managing Power Conditions Within A Digital Camera Device,” was duly and legally issued on July 6, 1999 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ’726 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit E.
- The ’076 Patent, entitled “Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices,” was duly and legally issued on December 15, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ’076 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit F.
- The ’105 Patent, entitled “GMSK Signal Processors For Improved Communications Capacity And Quality,” was duly and legally issued on December 8, 1998 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ’105 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit G.
- The ’453 Patent, entitled “Conserving Power By Reducing Voltage Supplied To An Instruction-Processing Portion Of A Processor,” was duly and legally issued on June 3, 2008 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ’453 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit H.
- The ’599 Patent, entitled “Object-Oriented Graphic System,” was duly and legally issued on October 3, 1995 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ’599 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit I.
- The ’354 Patent, entitled “Object-Oriented Event Notification System With Listener Registration Of Both Interests And Methods,” was duly and legally issued on July 23, 2002 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. A copy of the ’354 Patent is attached hereto as Exhibit J.
Here is the filing that Apple made with the ITC:
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