HTC Infringed Apple Patents, Says ITC's Initial Determination

CWmike writes "A judge at the U.S. International Trade Commission has made an initial determination that HTC infringed two Apple patents, HTC said late Friday. If the judgment is made final, HTC could be banned from importing phones to the U.S. It's the latest blow to Google's Android operating system, which is being attacked by competitors including Apple, Microsoft and Oracle. The initial determination will now be reviewed by a larger panel of ITC judges, who can uphold or reject it. The two patents appear to be fundamental to Android, according to Florian Mueller, a patent expert. 'They are very likely to be infringed by code that is at the core of Android,' he wrote in a blog post. The same patents are also at the heart of a dispute between Apple and Motorola, he said."

Comments

Sure they did.

[MacGyver2210]

I wonder how much Apple paid them to arrive at that decision...?

RIAA, MPAA, USPTO?

[znerk]

I know I'm risking my karma with this, but this subject is just screaming for a rant.

If we can't legally have freedoms anymore, then we'll just have to have them illegally (at least those of us with the backbone to stand up for our rights). Maybe this will be the straw that breaks the patent camel's back. When it becomes obvious that corporations are simply using patents as big sticks to wave at one another and beat down competitors, it becomes just as apparent that patents need to be abolished, not just reformed.

I, for one, couldn't care less about patents... especially when they are used in direct contradiction to the purpose and concepts that originated them in the first place. Patents should not be used as a tool to inhibit technological growth, and if importing Android products becomes illegal, I predict a huge and thriving black market. Furthering that point, I would predict that at the point where personal freedom is infringed for every consumer, we will either all lie down and accept the boot of our masters on our heads, or we will do the same thing we did when they outlawed alcohol; We will ignore the laws, and do what we please... especially when you consider that this latest batch of kids is the "entitlement" generation, with no concepts like "accountability" or "responsibility" to impede them.

I know there's a baby in this bathwater somewhere, but I'm soaked to the skin, and the plug is so much easier to find...
--
"This is why we can't have nice things."