In An International Trade Commission judge has made a preliminary ruling that two of Apples patents had been infringed by HTC, the Taiwanese Android-based handset maker. One of the patents relates to data detection technology, which is used in e-mail and text messages. The other is related to the data transmission system. In all, the judge had taken up the issue of 10 disputed patents.
HTC, which has been using Googles Android OS, has vowed to contest the ruling. The case is set go on, as now the full bench of the International Trade Commission will decide if they want to let the single administrative judges ruling to stand or have it reversed. A final verdict can come by the end of this year. If the full commission upholds the findings of the administrative judge, then that would mean an import ban on several HTC products, including the new Flyer tablet, that run on the Android OS.
The Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, had last year made Apples feelings about the possible patent related infringements abundantly clear when he said, We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. Weve decided to do something about it.
Many Android handset makers around the world were keenly watching the case. Apple has also filed similar patent infringement lawsuits against Samsung. Its lawsuit against Nokia was recently settled. It is still not clear what kind of impact this preliminary ruling will have on other similar cases. Microsoft and Motorola have also filed cases against each other related to mobile OS.
In the market the Android OS is doing better than any other OS. But it must be a cause for alarm for handset maker that Android is becoming the target of many patent related lawsuits. Recently it has been in the news that major handset makers have been paying Microsoft $5 to $15 for every Android handset they sell to avoid being sued by the company.
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