HTC has filed a patent suit against Apple that amounts to a proxy fight over Android OS. HTC is using nine new patents that it acquired from Google in order to sue the iPhone maker on behalf of the search engine giant. Google is going to great lengths to protect its Android OS from attacks by Apple.
The new patents give HTC more ammo to file another lawsuit against Apple in Delaware and with the International Trade Commission. The suit alleges that Apple has infringed all nine patents in question, which Google acquired last year from Openwave Systems, Motorola, and Palm in order to protect against IP lawsuits. Google gave the patent to HTC on September 1, and wasted no time in filing suit. The patent grant makes good on Google’s promise earlier in the year to support HTC in legal battles with Apple. The largest benefit that Google gets from helping HTC is due to the fact that the Android maker makes tablets and mobile phones which provides large advertising dollars for Google.
The Google patent grant to HTC will help the second largest smartphone manufacturer in Asia fend off a barrage patent infringement suits from Apple. The original claims lodged by Apple allege that phones running Android OS are copying the iPhone and thus infringing on Apple patents. The move by Google to step in and aid HTC in these legal battles opens up a new front in what is fast becoming an industry war over smartphone technology.
The patent wars have entangled all of the major players who are Android customers, including Barnes & Noble, Motorola Mobility and Samsung Electronics. Some industry analysts are calling the move by Google a “game changer”, as it shows their commitment to protecting their customers and the Android operating system at all costs. HTC already has two patent infringement claims pending against Apple at the ITC.