Cupertino, Calif. — Apple Corp. won the latest round in an ongoing court battle Friday when the judge ruled HTC Corp. had infringed on two of Apple’s patents.
The U.S. International Trade Commission judge ruled that the Taiwanese smartphone company had breached two of the 10 patents Apple presented in its case. The ruling indicates that other Android products in addition to HTC’s have infringed on some of Apple’s intellectual property.
With the court’s ruling, Apple has the right to go after other Android handset makers for licensing fees, although the decision still needs the support of the agency’s commissioners.
“If Apple views HTC as one of its major competitors in the U.S. market for high end smartphones and leverages these legal tactics to seek royalty payments, this could raise HTC’s cost structure relative to Apple and other Android makers, and could adversely affect HTC’s share opportunity if other Android makers are not required to pay the same royalties as HTC in the near future,” Jasmine Lu, analyst at Morgan Stanley, wrote.
HTC shares fell 15 percent after Apple filed it second complaint July 8, and another 6.5 percent Monday.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/5s3onxm (The Guardian)
http://tinyurl.com/3bvjzrc (Financial Times)
