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15 October 2019PatentsSaman Javed

USITC investigates HTC smart devices

The US International Trade Commission ( USITC) has instituted an investigation into certain devices sold by  HTC.

In an  announcement on Friday, October 11, the USITC said it had launched an investigation following a patent infringement complaint by non-practising entity Innovation Sciences.

The complaint, filed in August, alleged that the importation and sale of certain wireless communication devices by HTC violate the country’s Tariff Act 1930.

It claims that a number of HTC products, including smartphones, smart home devices and video cameras infringe two of its patents (US patent numbers 10,136,179 and 10,104,425).

Both patents cover a “method and system for efficient communication”.

Smart devices maker Resideo Technologies is also named as a defendant in the investigation.

The USITC said it has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case, and that HTC and Resideo had 20 days to file a response to the investigation.

HTC’s smartphones are also the subject of ongoing patent litigation in the UK.

In August,  WIPR reported that HTC has pulled its smartphones from UK shelves as a result of a patent dispute, after NPE IPCom claimed the devices infringed its patents.

To resolve the dispute, the English High Court approved a workaround, with HTC stating that it would only sell mobiles with this workaround on the UK market.

However, IPCom claimed that it carried out tests earlier this year and found that the workaround hasn’t been implemented, prompting IPCom to assert that HTC was still infringing. As a result of this, HTC pulled all phones from its UK market.

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