1 April 2010Patents

Apple fires opening salvo at Google with HTC patent suit

US technology company Apple has filed a lawsuit in Delaware District Court against mobile phone maker HTC, accusing the company of infringing 20 of its patents.

It has also asked the US International Trade Commission to block imports of HTC’s allegedly infringing smartphones.

California-based Apple filed the lawsuit on March 2, with an accompanying statement from chief executive Steve Jobs.

“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,” Jobs said. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

Though the lawsuit names HTC as the defendant, it is widely seen as an attack on Google as well. HTC phones use Google’s Android operating system, while the company also makes the Nexus One smartphone in partnership with Google.

But HTC hit back against the lawsuit.

“HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself,” said chief executive Peter Chou. “HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible.”

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