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I'm glad HTC is doing this. Since the iPhone came out, Apple has developed this smug godlike aura and it's time that someone stood up against them.

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You realize it's just the patent system doing what it normally does, right?

A sues B, generally to achieve some tangentially-related goal. Then B counter-sues A, to try to shore up their position in the inevitable settlement and cross-licensing deal. All of this, regardless of the relative merits or correct-ness of either side.

About the only time these things diverge from the normal path, is when one side is suing to essentially put another out of business. And that's hardly the case here.

From our position it's as irrational to say HTC is "standing up" to Apple bullying as to say Apple is standing up to Google/HTC "ripping off" their technology.

> About the only time these things diverge from the normal path, is when one side is suing to essentially put another out of business. And that's hardly the case here.

I'm not so sure about this. By going after the biggest Android manufacturer, youngest and smallest major smartphone manufacturer and a foreign company, It sort of seems that Apple does want to put HTC out of business, at least in this field.

Is HTC the biggest Android manufacturer? In the US I think Motorola has sold more phones with Android than anyone else.

I'm guessing Apple didn't sue Motorola because Motorola probably has a patent portfolio in the mobile phone space that is quite scary.

Definitely Motorola has a more formidable patent portfolio but HTC has been selling Android phones way before Motorola.

HTC is behind the G1, MyTouch, Sprint Hero, Droid Eris, Nexus One. Moto has Droid and Cliq, and now backflip but only Droid has much traction.

Regardless symbolically HTC is also more symbolically representative of Android, they both produced the first Android phone and Google's own Nexus One. To me it seems like Apple is taking a jab at Android more so than HTC.

You can't look at the HTC suit without looking at it in the context of the Nokia suits. I doubt Apple has any interest in putting HTC out of business, but more likely this is a case of Apple trying to firm up its patent portfolio quickly to make the Nokia suits easier to manage.

Maybe Apple just wanted to see what they would reply with? How they would react.

Apple does have all these patents, though not as substantive as Nokia, from what I have read they mostly seem to be software.

The only stupid way this would go is if some court did actually ban the import of a HTC/Nokia/Apple device. More likely, cross-licensing agreement between all parties involved, with Apple having to pay Nokia for the priveledge. I believe HTC already does this.

> The only stupid way this would go is if some court did actually ban the import of a HTC/Nokia/Apple device

I think that would be fun to watch

I cannot see how HTC qualifies as youngest smart phone manufacturer (and I'm not sure about the smallest part either). HTC designs and manufactures PDAs and smart phones for at least 12 years (Compaq iPaq 3600, probably first really sucessful Windows Mobile PDA was designed and manufactured by HTC). But only recently they started to market their products directly.

"quietly brilliant" may have something to do with this :)

I'm not as glad. HTC develops a compelling product that can 'win' on its on merits. This kind of patent action only serves to reinforce the kind of patent trolling done by, IMHO, companies who can't compete on product merit alone.

Yes, yes, I know there are compelling reasons why HTC must protect their patents if they are applicable.

>Yes, yes, I know there are compelling reasons why HTC must protect their patents if they are applicable.

I'd think the main compelling reason is that Apple has already sued them.

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