Apple Slaps HTC With Patent Suit Related to iPhone

TechFlash reports: Apple filed suit against mobile phone company HTC—maker of Google's Nexus One and a longtime Microsoft Windows Mobile supporter—alleging that it's infringing on 20 patents related to the iPhone's user interface, hardware, and underlying technology.

“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,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs says in a statement. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

Microsoft has been building its patent portfolio steadily for much of the past decade, so it will be worth watching to see if the Redmond company ends up being drawn into the situation, perhaps by offering patents that HTC could use in its defense, as Intellectual Ventures recently did for Verizon in its dispute with TiVo. Then again, Microsoft might be more inclined to stay out of the fray, particularly if stepping in could help Google.

In any event, the Apple suit is a major development in the rapidly evolving area of technology patents and a sign of how seriously Apple considers the threat posed by Google's push into mobile phones.

Apple and Nokia are also embroiled in a patent dispute, with Apple last year filing a countersuit against a complaint originally brought by Nokia.

The suit against HTC was filed simultaneously with the U.S. International Trade Commission and in U.S. District Court in Delaware.

HTC was an early partner of Microsoft's Windows Mobile business, and it continues to work with the company on devices including the upcoming HD2 for Windows Mobile 6.5.

Gizmodo has a copy of the suit and a statement from HTC, which says it hasn't been served yet but adds, "We respect and value patent rights, but we are committed to defending our own innovations. We have been innovating and patenting our own technology for 13 years."