HTC: We'll Defend Ourselves Against Apple Patent Infringement Lawsuit
HTC chief Peter Chou responded to last month's Apple lawsuit in a statement, disagreeing with the suit.
"HTC disagrees with Apple's actions and will fully defend itself," Chou said in the statement. "HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible."
Apple filed concurrent patent infringement lawsuits against HTC on March 2 with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and in U.S. District Court in Delaware. Apple's suit claims that HTC infringed upon patents related to the touch-screen user interface, underlying architecture and hardware of the Apple iPhone.
At the time the lawsuit was filed, Apple CEO Steve Jobs issued a statement claiming HTC stole Apple's intellectual property to create smartphones. "We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it," Jobs said in the statement. "We've decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology and not steal ours."
Apple's patent infringement suit against HTC likely centers around the increasing popularity of the HTC-built Google Nexus One, a Google Android-based smartphone that features multi-touch capabilities similar to that of the Apple iPhone. HTC has found success teaming up with Google and Android for smartphones.
But in HTC's statement, Chou pointed out that HTC has been making touch-screen smartphones and devices since 2002, well before the Apple iPhone made its 2007 debut.
"From day one, HTC has focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that deliver unique value for people looking for a smartphone," Chou said. "In 1999 we started designing the XDA and T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition, our first touch-screen smartphones, and they both shipped in 2002 with more than 50 additional HTC smartphone models shipping since then."