HTC sues Apple for patent infringement on patents from Google

By Mike Dunn Published September 7, 2011

It wouldn’t be a normal day in the tech world without some sort of legal dispute between mobile phone makers. Today’s news comes courtesy of HTC who has filed yet another lawsuit against Apple. What makes this news even more juicy is the fact that HTC obtained the patents that it is basing its case on from Google. On September 1 Google transferred nine patents over to HTC, and today’s suit focuses on four of those patents. At this time we do not know what each of the nine patents cover, or how Apple is infringing on those patents.

The nine patents from Google come from a variety of places such as Motorola, Palm, and Openwave Systems. It should be noted that the patents were transferred from Motorola before Google’s offer to purchase Motorola, and are independent of the purchase. There is no word on how much money HTC paid for the patents from Google, but it is clear that they did not waste any time using them against Apple.

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This is the latest in the line of legal battles between Apple and Android device makers. Besides Apple’s ongoing battle with Samsung, HTC filed a patent suit last month against Apple. Apple is fighting on several fronts, and it’s anyone’s guess as to how all the battles will end.

If Google had the patents why didn’t Google attack Apple on its own instead of having HTC do its dirty work? When Google bought Motorola it said that it did so to protect Android, so maybe it has decided the best defense is a good offense?

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