iPhone & iPad patent wars: Apple vs. HTC... FIGHT!

By Richi Jennings. May 13, 2010.

HTC fires back, defending itself against Apple's patent complaint. The Droid-maker wants iPhone and iPad removed from sale. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers break out the ringside popcorn.

Your humble blogwatcher selected these bloggy morsels for your enjoyment. Not to mention Samurai Wars...
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Richard Wray says the war "is growing increasingly acrimonious":

HTC ... has filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) calling for it to "halt the importation and sale of the iPhone, iPad and iPod." ... Comes after Apple sued HTC back in March, alleging that it had infringed 20 patents. ... Common practice in patent disputes.
...
The legal spat, which could drag on for years, also comes as devices using Google's Android platform are starting to have a serious impact on the market. ... Nokia ... is also embroiled in a patent fight with Apple.

Rob Pegoraro calls the countersuit an "inevitable sequel":

Yawn. ... I just can't work up much energy writing about patent ping-pong these days. ... Asking any government body to "halt the importation and sale of the iPhone, iPad and iPod" ... does seem like it would be a tall order.
...
These back-and-forth lawsuits will do nothing to promote the progress of smartphones. ... I'd rather see these companies compete on technical grounds. But I guess their lawyers have bills to pay, too.

Nilay Patel looks deeper:

What's odd here is that HTC hasn't yet filed a lawsuit in federal court ... HTC could just be banking on the ITC's somewhat faster process ... or it could be less sure of its patent claims and avoiding the harsher scrutiny of a courtroom. ... HTC's claiming that the iPhone, iPad, and iPod infringe upon five total patents.
...
Patent #6,999,800 ... covers independently switching the phone and PDA subsystems of a smartphone between off, standby, and normal in order to conserve power. ...
#5,541,988 #6,058,183 #6,320,957 ...  are related, as they were split apart from a single original patent application ... has to do with the phone dialer. ...
#7,716,505 ... This one was just granted yesterday. ... Covers moving data from RAM to flash and cutting power to the RAM, CPU and flash when the battery amount falls.

And Devin Coldewey puts words into HTC's mouth:

It’s clear what HTC’s position will be in public: “Look, we’ve been doing this stuff the whole time. If Apple wants to quibble about technicalities, that’s fine, but doesn’t that kind of seem to you like they’re trying to stifle innovation?”
...
By playing the victim ... the underdog, the long-suffering, ... “we just want to make cool stuff” guys, they may actually undermine Apple’s popularity advantage.

Chris Rawson has crystal balls:

All that's going to come out of this in the end is a few tens of millions of dollars flowing in one direction or the other. ... That'll most likely be the end of it.

But Harry McCracken deliberately doesn't:

Extremely unlikely but perversely satisfying potential scenario: All three companies win all their lawsuits, preventing all of them from selling any products whatsoever. ... It might dissuade other businesses from doing battle in the courtroom rather than the marketplace.

Meanwhile, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has a better idea:

I know how to put an end to these endless lawsuits - the ITC should block the importation and sale of handsets by all three companies. ... [This] would be sorted out within hours.

 
And Finally...
Samurai Wars: feudal Japanese Star Wars art
[hat tip: Mike Barrick]
    
 
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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, you can follow him as @richi on Twitter, pretend to be richij's friend on Facebook, or just use good old email: itbw@richij.com. You can also read Richi's full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.