Because it fits -yes, that is a bad pun, bad sadly, the shoe does fit in the case of the mobile phone industry. In fact, you can even call lawsuits the eternal pastime of tech companies when they need to annoy the living daylights out of their competitors. So yes, when mobile phone manufacturers are not busy working the next iPhone killer or the next WP7 device, they are comparing their list of patents with all the cool stuff their competitors came up with.
One thing that is not surprising, but is very important is the simple fact that infringement lawsuits are rarely monumental. With mobile phone technology constantly being pushed forward, it makes perfect sense that some companies end up creating similar or even identical breakthroughs –all that really matters is the race to get a patent. Anyone holding a patent to a technology will hold ownership of it. This is the reason why we can dig up some very disturbing patents filed by companies years ago (take a look at Google’s publication snipping patent).
Anyway, the lawsuit filed by Apple is reported to implicate many user interface based technologies including multi touch functions. But with both Apple and HTC keeping a tight lid on details it is still not confirmed exactly which 20 Apple patents are being contested. The lawsuit has been filed in the Court of Delaware and also with the ITC (International Trade Commission).
Apple’s choice to place pressure on HTC is seen not only as a legal maneuver, but also as a greater business strategy. The Taiwanese manufacturer stands as Google and Microsoft’s support in the Android and Windows Mobile operating systems –should this lawsuit prevent HTC from making certain upcoming devices, it will certainly give the upcoming Apple iPhone 4G an edge over its competitors.
Read more about the Apple lawsuit at Tech Radar.
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