U.K. Judge Says HTC Phones Don't Infringe Apple Patents

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Posted July 4, 2012 at 6:58pm by iClarified

A U.K. judge has ruled that HTC doesn't infringe four Apple patents and that three of those patents are invalid, reports Bloomberg.

HTC's devices don't infringe four Apple patents for the technology and three of those patents are invalid, Judge Christopher Floyd said yesterday. In addition to the slide-to-unlock feature, today's ruling covered Apple's patents on tools used to scroll through photographs and change alphabets, and software allowing users to touch the screen in two spots simultaneously.

Peter Bell, an attorney at Stevens & Bolton LLP, told Bloomberg that this "marks a considerable defeat for Apple in the smartphone patent wars. Two of Apple's prize patents have been knocked out in the U.K."

HTC was pleased at the ruling but said, "we remain disappointed that Apple continues to favor competition in the courtroom over competition in the marketplace."

Apple has had slightly better luck against HTC in the U.S. where customs recently blocked import of HTC One X and Evo 4G for some time over a patent infringement.

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U.K. Judge Says HTC Phones Don't Infringe Apple Patents

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dancj - July 5, 2012 at 7:04am

It's good to know that such ridiculous patent claims can get thrown out of court.

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Spellchecker - July 5, 2012 at 6:02am

It's spelled you're, by the wayâ¦

80802ec - July 4, 2012 at 10:09pm

HTC is a Taiwanese company. These are HTC phones. This is not a Apple v. Samsung case. This is an Apple v. HTC case! Samsung is a Korean company. I hope you understand NOW! Was that too fast and too much for you? I know we have to go slow for the special people on tech sites these days.

Brian - July 7, 2012 at 8:39am

What I meant is there'll still be advantage being dished out to Samsung even when it's HTC winning over Apple and Samsung isn't directly involved in this case.

Brian - July 4, 2012 at 9:01pm

I know that HTC is a Taiwanese company. But this ruling should also please the Koreans in their fight against Apple.