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Apple thought it could crush HTC legally, but the small phonemaker has proven feisty in court. It has launched a bold counterattack against Apple's ultra-profitable empire with a new lawsuit filed this week.  (Source: Warner Bros. Pictures)

HTC claims that Apple's Mac computers infringe on three patents in its small library of intellectual property.  (Source: Frijole)
Asian phone-maker refuses to submit to Apple's legal might

Faced with an uncertain fate ranging from licensing submission to complete removal from international markets, top Android handset manufacturer HTC Corp. (SEO:066570) has vowed to defy Apple, Inc. (AAPL) to the end. 

Apple has already sued HTC in a variety of international courts [1][2], asking local trade organizations to temporarily ban imports and sales of HTC's popular smart phones and tablets.  If Apple wins its lawsuits, that temporary bid to stifle the competition could turn permanent.

HTC this week fired back, filing a new lawsuit against Apple "HTC Corp v. Apple Inc, U.S. District Court, District of Delaware, No. 11-00715", which claims Apple's iPads, iPhones, iPod, and Mac computers infringe on a trio of patents HTC acquired in 2008 and 2010.

The company is seeking compensatory damage, and triple damages for Apple's "willful" infringement.  The company indicated it would likely file a new complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission, looking to fight fire with fire, seeking, once again, an import ban on Apple's products.

Just weeks ago HTC's leadership had expressed willingness to work with Apple towards a fair and reasonable cross-licensing scheme.  Apparently those talks fell through, either because Apple's demands of financial fealty were too exorbitant or because Apple simply is hoping to use the courts system to crush its rival.

The odds certainly seem stacked against HTC.  Apple has way more patents -- 3,000 U.S. patents, compared to 58, at last count [source], in the U.S. (this number likely went up slightly with the recent acquisition of S3 Graphics).  Apple has way more cash on hand to hire elite legal representation, a perk of being the world's most profitable tech company.  And Apple has already won the first round in court, securing a preliminary single judge ruling that finds HTC guilty of infringing 2 of Apple's 20 claimed patents.

Still, HTC vows to defy Apple's imposing might.  It will look forward to contesting its multiple countersuits against the Cupertino firm in court.  It also awaits a critical Dec. 6, 2011 appeal of the initial U.S. ITC decision that found HTC's smart phones to infringe on Apple's intellectual property.

In short, if there's fear in the HTC camp, it sure isn't showing it as it prepares to lock legal arms with Apple in a potential life-or-death battle.

And support may be on the way for HTC.  Google Inc. (GOOG), maker of Android OS yesterday announced plans to acquire Motorola Mobility, Inc. (MMI) for $12.5B USD.  The deal brings Motorola's war chest of 17,000 patents into the greater Android camp.  In other words, if HTC can simply hold Apple off long enough, Google may come through and market freedom may be preserved..

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Yesterday
By ltcommanderdata on 8/16/2011 3:09:15 PM , Rating: 5
quote:
And support may be on the way for HTC. Google Inc. (GOOG), maker of Android OS today announced plans to acquire Motorola Mobility, Inc. (MMI) for $12.5B USD. The deal brings Motorola's war chest of 17,000 patents into the greater Android camp. In other words, if HTC can simply hold Apple off long enough, Google may come through and market freedom may be preserved..

The Motorola purchase announcement was yesterday I believe.

And I believe that last sentence could come out stronger with sunshine, harp music, a cool breeze, and birds flying by overhead.




RE: Yesterday
By JasonMick (blog) on 8/16/2011 3:12:02 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
The Motorola purchase announcement was yesterday I believe.

And I believe that last sentence could come out stronger with sunshine, harp music, a cool breeze, and birds flying by overhead.

Indeed!

Right on both points good sir!


RE: Yesterday
By quiksilvr on 8/16/2011 3:19:29 PM , Rating: 2
Actually this soundtrack is quite fitting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V8JeGJDsgE


RE: Yesterday
By highlnder69 on 8/16/2011 4:24:16 PM , Rating: 5
Why does Apple need patents anyways? Aren't their devices "Magical" to begin with?

I sure hope that HTC wins and teaches Apple that they can't steal what ever they want and get away with it.


RE: Yesterday
By YashBudini on 8/16/2011 10:16:21 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Why does Apple need patents anyways? Aren't their devices "Magical" to begin with?

They need patents to back up their claims, "You're holding it wrong."
That's what makes iPatents so iSpecial.


RE: Yesterday
By DJ Brandon on 8/17/2011 3:31:58 PM , Rating: 2
+1


RE: Yesterday
By karlostomy on 8/18/2011 1:33:25 AM , Rating: 2
Apple needs patents so it can sue other companies for stealing Apple IP even though Apple stole that IP from other companies at an earlier date.

Sounds weird, right?
Alas, it's true.


RE: Yesterday
By DJ Brandon on 8/17/2011 3:30:35 PM , Rating: 2
RE: Yesterday
By Omega215D on 8/16/2011 4:33:18 PM , Rating: 5
"I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're afraid... you're afraid of us.

You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin.

I'm going to hang up this phone, and then I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you.

A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you. "

Wake up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1T8xgHdMEM


RE: Yesterday
By sprockkets on 8/16/2011 5:27:54 PM , Rating: 5
Why should you need to tell them you are going to hang up the phone when iphone users get that enough by holding it wrong and being on att?


RE: Yesterday
By neogrin on 8/17/2011 11:58:10 AM , Rating: 2
"I know you're out there. I can feel you...wait, hello? - click <disconnect>" ...damn iPhone.


RE: Yesterday
By Tony Swash on 8/17/2011 9:26:05 AM , Rating: 1
Motorola's patent portfolio didn't stop it being sued by Apple but is expected somehow to deter Apple from suing other companies. I wonder how?


RE: Yesterday
By nafhan on 8/17/2011 1:16:54 PM , Rating: 2
The patents will impact only the outcome of the suit NOT Apple's ability to sue. Anyway, who Apple is suing seems to be no more than tangentially related to IP rights. It seems to align more with how much of a competitive threat Apple perceives a specific company to be.

From what I've seen, the US justice system is currently structured to encourage this type of behavior. Any suits Apple loses will have little impact on Apple, but suits they win will potentially have a huge negative impact on competitor(s). For a company with the money to pursue these types of things, it may be an excellent strategic move.


By GotThumbs on 8/16/2011 9:28:57 PM , Rating: 5
Released in April 1976.

Bushnell put out the word at Atari that he would pay anyone who could design the game and reduce the number of ICs that it used, $100 per IC removed from the design. Steve Jobs, at the time a low-paid technician at Atari, accepted the challenge. He originally attempted to work on the design himself, but soon found himself in way over his head. He then brought in his friend Steve Wozniak, who liked to hang out at Atari and playtest the new games as they rolled off the assembly lines.

Woz and Jobs stayed up for four days working on the design. Woz would work on the game at night, take a small catnap, go to work at his day job at Hewlett-Packard, and then return home at night to resume work on the design. In the end, Woz reduced the design down to 42 ICs, and both he and Jobs contracted mono from staying up for four days straight working on it. Jobs received a $5,000 bonus and told Woz it was only $700 and gave Steve Wozniak his '50%'... $350.

http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=breakout&page=det...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs#Early_year...




By GotThumbs on 8/16/2011 9:31:17 PM , Rating: 3
I'll NEVER own an Apple product.


By YashBudini on 8/16/2011 10:22:15 PM , Rating: 3
Maybe they should start labeling the number of employee suicides associated to the product being purchased on the product itself.

I don't see marketing liking this idea.


By Motoman on 8/17/2011 9:45:21 AM , Rating: 2
As always, a stellar attempt at misdirection from an Apple fan.

The point is not to compare the Foxconn Apple factory(-ies) suicide rate to the general national average. The point would be to compare it to other Foxconn factories. Or at the very least, other high-tech factories in general.

There is no news about suicides at other similar facilities...because there is nothing significant to report at other facilities. And if factories owned by other companies, or in the case of an ODM, dedicated to the manufacture of other companies' products, had unusual rates of suicide...we'd hear about it. Because that's news. The fact that we don't clearly indicts the Foxconn Apple factory(-ies) as being well outside the norm.


By Invane on 8/17/2011 12:59:35 PM , Rating: 2
Nah, Motoman's right. Factory jobs such as Foxconn are considered excellent jobs in China. You would assume they would be amongst the happiest workers due to having such a job. This means that I would definitely expect them to have a suicide rate far lower than the national average. Pointing out this happens to be the case is hardly surprising.

If you want to compare apples to apples, you need data from workers in similar jobs to compare to. If they have a significantly lower suicide rate, there's an issue.


By Motoman on 8/17/2011 1:13:16 PM , Rating: 2
You're a moron, and here's why:

You utterly misunderstand how statistics work, in terms of coming up with a valid representation.

Not all Chinese citizens are subject to the work conditions at the Foxconn Apple factory(-ies). Therefore, any such statistic you come up with is useless.

Say for a moment that you spin some numbers through your abacus and decide that an American citizen has a 1 in ten billion chance of dying from a cliff diving accident each year...based on the number of deaths resulting from cliff diving, and the total number of US citizens. But that's a moronic number to even come up with...because the VAST majority of US citizens aren't exposed to cliff diving...therefore, their chance of dying from it is zero.

Only people who work in similar conditions would be valid to compare against...and the best possible comparisons would be to other Foxconn factories. But you don't want to do that...because it would undermine your imaginary point.


By torpor on 8/17/2011 12:54:22 PM , Rating: 3
The overall population suicide rate will include people with severe mental defects or disorders that would make them otherwise incapable or unlikely to hold an electronics factory job.

For example, someone with severe depression or hard-swinging bipolar mania will probably not be able to keep a "regular job" where they have to be focused and punctual.

Obviously, these people are more likely to commit suicide than the general population and will skew the number for the population in general. Suicide rates are also greater in younger people, and so there's another point against you.

The implied assertion - that Apple products are not produced in sweatshops - is as laughable as what was falling from the mouth of Baghdad Bob 'round about 2003. I guess we should start calling you Cupertino Carl. I hope the PR firm paycheck's worth pasting this stuff from their online conversation guidelines.


By nafhan on 8/17/2011 5:32:41 PM , Rating: 2
I could add some facts to the discussion that I learned on the Discovery Chanel during shark week. They would be facts, but they probably wouldn't move the conversation along. That's essentially what you're doing.

That said, I do think the Foxconn issue is probably blown out of proportion.


By Motoman on 8/17/2011 6:48:20 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I am just an old fashioned evidence based sort of guy.


No you're not. You're an old fashioned con artist, posting "facts" that seem at first blush to be relevant to the discussion and supportive of your assertion, when the slightest bit of rational thought clearly demonstrates that you're misusing "information" to fabricate a foundation for your fantasies.

As noted above, you can post all such "facts" as you want, but they aren't applicable to the argument you're trying to make. Therefore, as always, you do nothing but to further cement your reputation as a rabid fanboi. Cupertino Carl indeed.


By Tony Swash on 8/17/2011 7:05:58 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
No you're not. You're an old fashioned con artist, posting "facts" that seem at first blush to be relevant to the discussion and supportive of your assertion, when the slightest bit of rational thought clearly demonstrates that you're misusing "information" to fabricate a foundation for your fantasies.

As noted above, you can post all such "facts" as you want, but they aren't applicable to the argument you're trying to make. Therefore, as always, you do nothing but to further cement your reputation as a rabid fanboi. Cupertino Carl indeed.


Somebody makes a remark about Foxconn suicides, I post some hard data about actual suicide statistics, this freaks some people out whose world view is so brittle that they have to accuse the only person who has included any data, facts or data external references in their posts of being a con artist. You must find the real world a very threatening place :)

"Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions."
       -- G. K. Chesterton


By Motoman on 8/17/2011 9:40:50 PM , Rating: 2
One more time:

Your facts are not relevant. You are misusing them to manufacture "evidence" to support your anti-reality argument.

Keep posting all the "facts" you want - you're not fooling anyone except yourself.


By karlostomy on 8/18/2011 1:27:36 AM , Rating: 2
@ Tony Swash

quote:
I am the only one posting facts and data and those attempting a rebuttal rely on speculation, imagination and insults.


What?

The rebuttals have been entirely on point, rendering your argument and associated presented facts moot.

What are you not getting here, Tony?
Have you been paying attention?

May I suggest you put on your thinking cap before you begin typing?


By Chadder007 on 8/17/2011 9:54:12 AM , Rating: 2
Are you sure they didn't get Mono from making out?


By Helbore on 8/17/2011 1:02:13 PM , Rating: 2
And that's what Jobs does to an actual friend. Jobs treated Woz (the actual technical genius) appallingly and not just this one time.


By gorehound on 8/17/2011 2:43:12 PM , Rating: 2
Apple needs to flush itself down an I Toilet !!!
Wonder if that will clean out the stench of corruption and lies.


Missing a point....
By kitonne on 8/16/2011 6:27:37 PM , Rating: 2
If HTC can get an injuction against Apple in CHINA, because of a Chinese patent, they can stop most Apple products from being made.... It is more important if HTC has the right patents in China




RE: Missing a point....
By FITCamaro on 8/16/2011 7:44:20 PM , Rating: 2
Do you really think Apple wouldn't pay off the required people in China to make sure that didn't happen. Paying off an official in China is far easier than in the US. Unless you're a union of course. Then its just an everyday activity to provide "campaign contributions".


RE: Missing a point....
By YashBudini on 8/16/2011 10:19:35 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Unless you're a union of course. Then its just an everyday activity to provide "campaign contributions".

Oh and clearly such tactics are limited only to those you deem need to be singled out. All the others that do the same thing that are republicans, it's OK when they do it.

</objectivity>
</ethics lesson>
</reason>


RE: Missing a point....
By seamonkey79 on 8/17/2011 9:10:21 AM , Rating: 2
It's a majority of 'them' so stop tying to place labels when the whole thing is corrupt.


RE: Missing a point....
By YashBudini on 8/17/2011 12:35:18 PM , Rating: 2
Yes, thanks for making my point.


FUNNY!!!!!
By Amedean on 8/16/2011 11:25:09 PM , Rating: 2
You have got to admire DailyTech's wonderful humor on their cover images in their articles, just classic this one!




By atlmann10 on 8/17/2011 8:45:18 AM , Rating: 2
I think Apple may want to start paying attention to bigger players in this issue, such as Goompanies that just bout Motorola Mobility and all there patents,not to mention that Apple is also on Samsung's negative side on this issue to. If you think about it having two companies like Samsung, and Google/Motorola to fight over all of this makes HTC look like small potatoes indeed!




Good job HTC
By masamasa on 8/17/2011 5:13:24 PM , Rating: 2
Kick 'em where it hurts.




khaloodi
By angel boy3637 on 8/18/2011 9:28:39 PM , Rating: 2
Crush?
By name99 on 8/17/2011 3:14:10 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
Apple thought it could crush HTC legally, but the small phonemaker has proven feisty in court.


Uh, Jason, have you ever considered that you might have a temperament that is better suited to reviewing video games for teenagers than being a serious journalist?

Apple and HTC are companies run by adults. Their goal, with lawsuits, is to stop a particular action they believe they can get stopped, to win damages they feel are owed, to obtain remedies for contracts they feel have been breached. "Crushing" is not part of this agenda.

If you have some amazing scoop of Apple legal, or heck, Apple management, stating somewhere that there goal in this lawsuit is "to crush HTC", then share it with us. And if not, then STFU and report what is happening like an adult, not like an 8yr old watching pro wrestling for the first time.




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