Apple's patent victory against HTC that could lead to every Android phone being banned

This is a huge development if carried out in full. Apple isn’t going to take patent infringement lying down.

Daily Mail

It’s a controversial court ruling in favour of Apple that could ultimately even lead to the ban of all Google Android phones and tablets in the U.S.

Apple has won a preliminary ruling from a U.S. trade panel that Taiwanese handset maker HTC infringed on two of its patents. HTC uses Google's Android operating system for its smartphones and the case is being closely watched by the mobile devices market.

Apple's patent victory against HTC that could lead to every Android phone being banned Preliminary patent court ruling in Apple v HTC case

HTC uses Google's Android operating system
Patents relate to data processing and could spell disaster for HTC Androids and all other Androids

It’s a controversial court ruling in favour of Apple that could ultimately even lead to the ban of all Google Android phones and tablets in the U.S.
Apple has won a preliminary ruling from a U.S. trade panel that Taiwanese handset maker HTC infringed on two of its patents.

The preliminary ruling is already creating a buzz as it is one of the first between Apple and other smartphone makers using Android.

The win could see Apple take on other Android handset makers or demand an import ban to the U.S. against HTC, reported The Guardian.

The patents relate to data processing and cover actions such as the device recognising phone numbers and being prompted to call them.

Apple is unhappy that Android contains a similar ‘analyser server’ for ‘detecting structures in the data’.

VentureBeat reported patent expert Florian Mueller as saying: ‘I have looked at those patents before and they appear to be very fundamental.

‘They are very likely to be infringed by code that is at the core of Android.

'This could in a worst-case scenario result in an import ban against many or even all Android-based HTC products in the U.S. market.’

It follows a wealth of patent litigation between Apple and Samsung, which also uses the Android; Apple and Nokia; and Microsoft and Motorola.

HTC says it will ‘vigorously fight’ the finding by an International Trade Commission judge last week, but the full commission is yet to make a decision.

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