Apple sues HTC in proxy battle with Google and Android

Paul Nesbitt

Apple is suing HTC for the alleged infringement of 20 patents related to the iPhone in a move which industry insiders have characterised as an indirect attack on Google, whose Nexus One handset is made by HTC.

'We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We've decided to do something about it,' said Apple CEO, Steve Jobs.

Apple filed its suit – which requests that HTC be banned from selling phones that allegedly infringe Apple's patents (like the Nexus One) in the US – with the US International Trade Commission (ITC). Apple is already embroiled in legal action with Nokia over alleged patent infringements. Both companies have sued each other and both are requesting injunctions that would ban the other from selling handsets in the US.

HTC declined to comment.

'I think this is kind of an indirect lawsuit [by Apple] against Google,' said analyst Shaw Wu of Kaufman Brothers.

Google's Android platform for mobile phones is widely expected to gain market momentum this year, possibly at the expense of Apple and the iPhone.

'2010 is going to be the year of Android,' said Forrester Research analyst, Ian Fogg

Apple did not name Google in its lawsuit, but the search giant made the unusual move of issuing a statement in support of HTC.

'We are not a party to this lawsuit. However, we stand behind our Android operating system and the partners who have helped us to develop it,' said a Google spokesperson.

Fogg said that Apple's legal action against HTC could the first of many: This could have implications for all other phone manufacturers which have just announced their phones at the Mobile World Congress.'