It's not looking good for HTC, Apple fights back against Android

kearneybobs

The possible embargo of HTC phones into America could end up crippling one of the biggest sellers of Android devices...if Apple has it's way.
Here's the link
http://www.dailytech.com/Apples+Plot+to+Kill+Top+Android+Maker+HTC+Nears+Fruition+With+Win/article22173.htm

Loss of manufacturer would be a huge blow to Android

Apple, Inc. (AAPL) has struggled to compete with Android. Its newest phone is over a year old, and looks badly dated compared to the latest slick Android hardware. And it's being outsold over two-to-one by Android globally, according to market researchers. But Apple has a secret weapon -- litigation.

I. What in the World Happened?

On Friday HTC Corp. (TPE:2498), one of the three largest Android phonemakers in the world was dealt a stunning preliminary loss in a lawsuit brought against it by Apple.

The loss clears the way for virtually all shipments of HTC Android smart phones into the U.S. to be blocked for an indefinite amount of time. Android devices constitute the vast majority of HTC's sales and a large portion of those sales are in the U.S. Given that HTC does not enjoy the fat profit margins Apple does, thanks to a lower markup, the loss of this major chunk of revenue could be enough to kill HTC or at least cripple it.

The initial determination was made by Administrative Law Judge Carl Charneski, a member of a six-judge U.S. International Trade Commission panel in Washington, D.C. The judge ruled that HTC violated two of the ten patents Apple accused it of violating.

Namely HTC was found guilty of infringing on:

• U.S. Patent No. 5,946,647: "A system and method causes a computer to detect and perform actions on structures identified in computer data."
• U.S. Patent No. 6,343,263: "A data transmission system having a real-time data engine for processing isochronous streams of data includes an interface device that provides a physical and logical connection of a computer to any one or more of a variety of different types of data networks."

The ruling is especially surprising as in April ITC staffers gave a recommendation against Apple's infringement allegations.

II. What's Next?

A crestfallen HTC vowed to keep fighting till the bitter end Grace Lei, general counsel for the Taoyuan, Taiwan-based company emailed Bloomberg, commenting, "[We will] vigorously fight these two remaining patents through an appeal before the ITC commissioners who make the final decision."

A decision on whether to ban imports in the meantime is forthcoming and could be delivered within weeks. If the ITC grants Apple's request for a preliminary injunction, virtually all HTC Android handset imports into the U.S. would cease. Carriers would only have access to whatever they currently have in the supply chain.

Now HTC could in theory try to modifying device hardware and software to remove the infringing technology, but that could seriously harm the devices' operation, according to the legal experts at FOSS Patents.

Even if HTC loses, it still has a ray of hope as fellow Android handset maker Motorola Solutions Inc. (MSI) is fighting Apple in court claiming twelve of its patents are illegal. If Motorola, also being sued by Apple, invalidates those patents, it would essentially nullify the verdict against HTC.

However, Apple has a second suit against HTC with 16 more patents, so even if Apple loses to Motorola, it could still win (again) versus HTC in theory.

While rival Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) typically looks to sign lucrative licensing agreements, but let its foe survive, Apple is expected to refuse licensing and essentially ban HTC Android handsets from America, if it wins.

III. What Would the Impact of a Loss Be?

That would be a huge blow to Android OS maker Google Inc. (GOOG). It could also bode ominously for Motorola and fellow Android handset maker Samsung Electronics Comp., Ltd. (SEO:005930), who are currently being sued by Apple URL="http://www.dailytech.com/Apple+Labels+Samsung+an+iPhone+iPad+Copycat+in+New+Lawsuit+/article21406.htm"]1[/URLURL="http://www.dailytech.com/Apple+Fires+Second+Suit+Says+Galaxy+STab+Ripped+Off+iPhoneiPad/article21999.htm"]2[/URL on similar patents. While each of these cases is slightly different, a victory over HTC could lend credibility to Apple's case against the remaining two top Android manufacturers.

Motorola and Samsung are least more diversified than HTC, so a loss for them might not be deadly. But if what some believe to be Apple's wildest dreams come true -- guilty verdicts against HTC, Motorola, and Samsung -- it could amount to the death of the Android operating system, or the very least its minimalization as a bit player.

HTC has accused Apple of hampering the free market with abusive litigation, saying it's refusing to compete legitimately.

Apple CEO Steven P. Jobs, by contrast says Android handset makers are guilty of "stealing" his intellectual property, including the look of the iPhone. He accuses, "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."

Of course there's lots of court drama yet to unfold, and HTC and the other Android handset makers have the possibility of appealing, even if they're found guilty.

And they have their own running countersuits URL="http://www.dailytech.com/HTC+Fights+Back+Suing+Apple+to+Block+Import+of+iPhone+iPad+iPods/article18368.htm"]1[/URLURL="http://www.dailytech.com/As+Promised+Samsung+Fires+Back+at+Apple+With+Its+Own+Lawsuit/article21450.htm"]2[/URL against Apple, which could force Apple to back off, if they should be lucky enough to win.

In short, Apple may have won a battle in its bid to kill Android with litigation, but the war has just begun.

Author's Note: We tried to contact Apple multiple times about this story as it progressed over the last few months, but thus far have had no luck getting ahold of anybody that's willing to tell us their side of this story.

Thoughts?

scudzilla

kearneybobs wrote: »

Thoughts?

Translate into simple English (What they've apparently stolen) and i may have some

kearneybobs

scudzilla wrote: »

Translate into simple English (What they've apparently stolen) and i may have some

Gizmodo explain it a bit more.... in layman's terms, for you!;)

Hyperbole ahoy! Friday's ITC pro-Apple patent ruling against HTC is creating waves this weekend because it theoretically means a number of Android handsets could be barred from sale within the U.S. beginning in December. For Google, this is potentially devastating news, as it was discovered the two infringed patents in question are "are part of the Android architecture, rather than unique enhancements made by HTC," reports AppleInsider.
This would make a quick fix hard to implement because changing the offending technology to something that does not violate Apple's patents would mean "fundamental changes to the Android architecture," said FOSS patents expert Florian Mueller in a blog post this week.
A review is underway, with a final ITC decision set to be made in December.

Mr Bloat

This is ridiculous, I'm no patent lawyer but after a quick reading of the 2 patents involved, my reading of it could apply to almost any computer operation. Bloody Apple and bloody USPTO for ever granting such an ambiguous patent in the first place.

scudzilla

Cheers

This is why i hate Apple and will never buy another Apple product (Stupidly bought an iPod 6 years ago)

Mr E

No offense, scudzilla, but that's a stupid argument.
I'm an android fanatic, but I still love my ipod touch and use a mac (and love using my mac!) in work every day.

seanybiker

Mr Bloat wrote: »

This is ridiculous, I'm no patent lawyer but after a quick reading of the 2 patents involved, my reading of it could apply to almost any computer operation. Bloody Apple and bloody USPTO for ever granting such an ambiguous patent in the first place.

that's what I picked up from it aswell. Bloody muppets.

Keano

Bah, Apple kicking up a fuss when the competition is gaining ground.

scudzilla

Mr E wrote: »

No offense, scudzilla, but that's a stupid argument.
I'm an android fanatic, but I still love my ipod touch and use a mac (and love using my mac!) in work every day.

No offense taken, i just hate Apple and itunes in particular, surely my choice never to buy another of there products

Jaafa

Agreed those patents are very general. How can a judge whom I assume has little knowledge of mobile operating systems architectures deliberate on a case like this? Does he/she has advisors? Or does the judge depend on the biased explainations of apple and HTC?

Venom

Jaafa wrote: »

Agreed those patents are very general. How can a judge whom I assume has little knowledge of mobile operating systems architectures deliberate on a case like this? Does he/she has advisors? Or does the judge depend on the biased explainations of apple and HTC?

This is the big problem with so many tech patents in the US tho as the US patent system is so vague and really needs to be looked at. Funny how its always Apple pulling this **** on its competitors tho.

Hardly the end of Android tho as Nokia's Symbian OS had bugger all presence in the US and is had a huge market share.

the untitled user

Patent laws to begin with are utter horse****. As I understand you can't actually patent software (well, specifically the algorithm/process) but you can patent an interaction with or novel end effect on hardware. Which is why you get such weird and (deliberatly) vague patent definitions that seem limitless in application.

él statutorio

this will get sorted. Apple will threaten a ban on htc devices, htc will pay apple a chunk of change to make this go away. If htc challenge it in court they'll most likely win do to the vagueness of the patents in question. end of.

PrzemoF

http://blogs.forbes.com/timothylee/2011/07/07/microsofts-android-shakedown/

"Microsoft’s Android Shakedown

Image via CrunchBase


In the 1980s, attorney Gary Reback was working at Sun Microsystems, then a young technology startup. A pack of IBM employees in blue suits showed up at Sun headquarters seeking royalties for 7 patents that IBM claimed Sun had infringed. The Sun employees, having examined the patents, patiently explained that six of the seven patents were likely invalid, and Sun clearly hadn’t infringed the seventh. Reback explains what happened next in this classic Forbes article:

An awkward silence ensued. The blue suits did not even confer among themselves. They just sat there, stonelike. Finally, the chief suit responded. “OK,” he said, “maybe you don’t infringe these seven patents. But we have 10,000 U.S. patents. Do you really want us to go back to Armonk [IBM headquarters in New York] and find seven patents you do infringe? Or do you want to make this easy and just pay us $20 million?” After a modest bit of negotiation, Sun cut IBM a check, and the blue suits went to the next company on their hit list.


[..]"

Raskolnikov

You have to laugh really. If Microsoft tried a stunt like this, can you imagine the uproar there would be? Evil, money grabbing corporation trying to block competition, people would be clamoring for lawsuits against them in no-time.

PrzemoF

M$ _is_ doing it right now. Google for "M$ android patents" or "htc pays fiver to m$"