HTC claims innovations long before Apple’s patents
Posted by Joel Evans @ 1:10 pm
Categories: Android, Apple, HTC, Smartphone, Windows Mobile, iPhone
Tags: Innovation, High Tech Computer Corp., Patent, Apple Inc., Pocket PC, Smart Phones, Handhelds, Leadership, Cellular Phones, Strategy
Earlier this month Apple filed a patent suit against HTC and now HTC is responding. According to HTC’s press release, the company
“disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself.”
To refresh your memory, Apple is suing HTC for violating 20 patents related to “the iPhone’s user interface, underlying architecture and hardware.”
The press release goes on to say that 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”
What I found particularly interesting about the press release was HTC’s ability to not only say that they’re innovators but to demonstrate it time and again by including a quick timeline of firsts. I’ve included them below:
- First Windows PDA (1998)
- First Windows Phone (June 2002)
- First 3G CDMA EVDO smartphone (October 2005)
- First gesture-based smartphone (June 2007)
- First Google Android smartphone (October 2008)
- First 4G WIMAX smartphone (November 2008)
As you can see from above, HTC’s innovations start long before the iPhone patents come into play. I’m not a lawyer but I would think that HTC may have a case here.
I’ve been a Windows Mobile fan since it was first known as Pocket PC and actually had one of the first Pocket PC phones (pictured above). I even wrote a review of the Pocket PC Phone back when it was first released. It was a great phone, way ahead of its time, and clearly demonstrates HTC’s ability to innovate at a time when most phones were used just for talking.
Lawsuits have a tendency to drag out for a long time. At this stage I hope this one wraps up quick so that we don’t see a strain on HTC’s pocket book or innovation as a result.
If you’re interested in seeing more of HTC’s history be sure to check out HTC.com/history. I remember hearing about HTC long ago when I was playing with the iPAQ and other devices and it’s amazing to see how far the company has come since.
See the rest here:
HTC claims innovations long before Apple's patents
Surprise! HTC Doesn’t Agree With Apple Regarding Suit
HTC has finally spoken out regarding the pending lawsuit Apple launched against the smartphone maker regarding its use of multi-touch as an interface navigation mechanism, and around 20 other technologies. It should surprise absolutely no one that the Taiwanese company doesn’t see eye-to-eye with the iPhone maker regarding the appropriateness of its use of the tech.
HTC CEO Peter Chou released a statement Wednesday addressing the recently filed suit directly. According to Chou, as quoted by InformationWeek, “HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself.” HTC’s stance, like that of Apple, is that it respects and values healthy competition and innovation. Of course, that shared premise leads both companies to quite different conclusions.
Chou elaborates HTC’s position further in the official 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 is no stranger to suits from other companies, and it certainly hasn’t shied away from pursuing legal action itself in the past. A suit against Nokia along similar lines is still ongoing. HTC shouldn’t be surprised about the move, either, considering the fact that multi-touch wasn’t officially introduced as a launch feature on the Nexus One, even though the hardware supported it. It was added later by Google to the device via a software update. Sure seems like an attempt to dodge the ire of multi-touch’s proclaimed originator to me.
The Nexus One is almost certainly the catalyst for this suit, and with good reason. Despite the fact that the device itself isn’t selling anywhere near at the level of the iPhone, recent evidence suggests that the phone has raised the profile of Android, which seems to be positioning itself to make a serious bid on Apple’s smartphone market dominance. If Apple is ever to strip Google of some of that momentum, the time to do so is now.
But are the claims Apple is making valid, or is it just an attempt to strike down any and all competition before the consumer gets a chance to choose? I’m no legal expert, but it seems to me that Apple is going after some very basic concepts in its legal claims, ones without which the concept of a modern smartphone would be untenable. I’m all for giving credit where credit is due, but if we’re to see cell tech progress, it has to be at the behest of the free market, and that means not unduly placing restrictions on Apple’s competitors.
View original here:
Surprise! HTC Doesn’t Agree With Apple Regarding Suit
