The second largest smartphone manufacturer in Asia, HTC, is utilizing nine of the patents that it bought from Google to file some more patent infringement lawsuits against Apple, which is one of its biggest rivals in the smartphone market. These patents had come into the possession of Google during the last year; four of them came through Motorola, whereas Openwave Systems provided three and Palm provided two of the remaining patents.
There was no comment from Jim Prosser, who is a spokesperson for the California based Google on why the nine patents were transferred from the company to HTC. This give HTC more of an avenue to fend off Apple’s attempts at disrupting the sales of its Android based smartphones through its own patent infringement suits which claim that the phones based on the Google mobile platform copy the iPhone.
Another revelation has been Google’s purposeful aiding of HTC in these legal efforts as this has revealed a new development in the legal disputes over smartphone technology which has engulfed the whole industry including Android manufacturers such as Motorola Mobility, Samsung Electronics and Barnes & Noble Inc.
An analyst named Will Stofega said that this could potentially alter the whole scenario as Google have actively shown an interest in the protection of its Android licensees in order to make sure that these customers remain with the company. Yesterday, HTC sued Apple and also filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission in the US, alleging that the company infringed upon the patents that the South Korean manufacturer obtained from Google.
Google has earlier been widely criticized for being a passive spectator as its licensees were sued by Apple, whereas the internet search giant did not face a single court appeal. HTC, based in Taoyuan, Taiwan, had captured attention in the US after it became the first Android manufacturer.
The company has tried to defend itself through filing two patent infringement complaints against Apple at the Washington based trade commission, one of which was submitted during last year and the other last month. HTC also announced its planned acquisition of S3 Graphics Co. just the week after it won a preliminary injunction against Apple. It has been often noted that Google has a very small stockpile of patents which makes the company very vulnerable to intellectual property damage lawsuits.
