Earlier this month, Apple sued rival smartphone maker HTC over violations of patents related to the iPhone, accusing HTC of infringing on up to 20 patents relating to the popular smartphone’s hardware and user interface.
Taking its time in doing so, HTC has responded today, vowing to fight the charges.
“HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself. HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done,” said HTC CEO Peter Chou, via a press release. “We will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible.”
If Apple succeeds in the case, they will get an injunction on HTC, barring the company from importing and selling any of their infringing devices in the U.S. The company is also seeking monetary damages.
Result for: monetary damages
Eastman Kodak has said today it is suing RIM and Apple for patent violations relating to the cameras used in BlackBerrys and the iPhone.
The complaint was filed with the International Trade Commission and alleges that the smartphones infringe on Kodak patents “covering technology for previewing photos.”
Kodak is asking for an injunction on the import of phones sold by both companies. The company is also seeking unspecified monetary damages, and the end of the use of the technologies.
RIM and Apple declined comment but it is not as if sales of the popular devices are in immediate trouble. Patent disputes sometimes take up to 10 years, however ITC complaints usually take only 15 months.
“We’ve had discussions for years with both companies in an attempt to resolve this issue amicably, and we have not been able to reach a satisfactory agreement,” added Laura Quatela, Kodak’s chief intellectual property officer. “Our primary interest is not to disrupt the availability of any product but to obtain fair compensation for the use of our technology.”
Kodak currently has 1100 patents relating to digital photography technologies and licenses them to over 30 companies.
Result for: monetary damages
Nokia has filed lawsuits this week against major CRT and LCD makers, alleging price fixing.
The companies, or their subsidiaries, named in the suits are AU Optronics, Hitachi, LG Electronics, Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Seiko Epson, Sharp and Toshiba.
“The investigations are into alleged cartel activities, effectively price fixing, in the supply of both CRTs (cathode ray tubes) and LCDs (liquid crystal display) — components that we have bought in significant volumes over a number of years. Had we not been overcharged for them our profitability would have been higher,” says Nokia spokesman Mark Durrant.
Durrant did not disclose how much Nokia was seeking in monetary damages, but did say they were “not insignificant.”
