Apple scores first victory in smartphone technology patent lawsuit
In a case seen as a proxy for a larger fight between Google’s Android operating system and Apple’s iOS, the US International Trade Commission ruled that HTC infringed on one of four patents Apple had disputed. It imposed a sales ban on some of the Taiwan maker’s phones.
While the ruling is unlikely to hurt HTC as much as initially feared —because it will have time to work around the offending technology and has until April before the ban becomes effective — it offers Apple ammunition to pursue other makers it believes infringe on its technology.
