Apple Inc., embroiled in global patent litigation to protect sales of its iPhone, was ordered by a U.K. judge to tell HTC Corp. exactly which features of its competing mobile phones may infringe Apple’s European patents.
Apple has until tomorrow to describe which aspects of HTC’s handsets allegedly violate the company’s “swipe-to-unlock” function and other features covered by Apple’s four patents in the case, Judge Richard Arnold ruled today in London.
HTC’s earlier attempts to get clarification from Apple received vague responses, forcing the company “to go to court to get the clarity” imposed by the ruling, HTC’s lawyer, James Abrahams, said at the hearing. HTC will argue that Apple’s patents are invalid at a trial scheduled for April.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, is involved in a global battle with Samsung Electronics Co. and HTC over both smartphones and tablet computers. Apple sued HTC for patent infringement in Germany in July, triggering a countersuit by HTC in London. Apple also sued in the U.K., naming HTC and Samsung in a complaint filed in September.
If HTC wins the London case and invalidates Apple’s patents, it could use the U.K. judgment to help prove during the German trial that it isn’t infringing Apple’s European patents. Under German legal precedent, German judges give weight to British judgments on a patent’s validity when considering whether the patent has been infringed.
Apple is prepared to hand over the additional information and didn’t respond fully to HTC’s initial questions because they weren’t clear enough, the company’s lawyer, Guy Burkill, said at the hearing.
The case is: HTC Europe Co. Ltd. v. Apple Inc., High Court of Justice, London, HC11C02703
No comments:
Post a Comment