Apple suit likely a shock to Google phone maker Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/03/02/apple-htc-patent-lawsuit.html#ixzz0hD35DDrS

Apple's patent lawsuit against HTC is likely coming as a shock to the Taiwanese phone maker, which holds the American company in high regard.

"I have always been an Apple fan, all of my life," said John Wang, HTC's chief marketing and innovation officer, in a recent interview. "I stay up till 1 a.m. to see [Apple CEO] Steve [Jobs'] speeches, every time he speaks. Apple is such a respectable company in this world."

On Tuesday, the Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple filed a lawsuit against HTC that claims the company has violated 20 of its patents related to graphical interface, underlying architecture and hardware in several of its handset models. Apple has asked the U.S. International Trade Commission and U.S. District Court in Delaware to block the import and sale of infringing phones in the United States, as well as triple damages and interest.

“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,” Jobs said in a press release. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

HTC on Tuesday said it had not yet been served with the lawsuit and could not comment.

In an interview with CBC News in late January, Wang spoke of his admiration for Apple, but also of HTC's own innovation efforts. The company set up its first dedicated innovation centre, dubbed "Magic Labs," in Taiwan in 2004 and 2005. The lab's focus was to concentrate on inventing new technologies away from the pressures of quarterly business targets, with an eye to developing products that would hit the market two or three years into the future.

Wang said he was surprised when he watched Jobs' speech in January 2007, where he unveiled the iPhone. Touting a sleek, graphical touch-screen interface, the iPhone nearly swept the carpet out from under HTC, which had been working on similar features since 2005.

"My jaw dropped. I was thinking that half of my projects at Magic Labs were in this phone," Wang said. "I wasn't feeling too well after that announcement."

The shock was short-lived, though, as Apple's announcement edified HTC's approach, he added. HTC released its Touch smartphone in June, 2007, a month before Apple released the iPhone.

"The introduction of the iPhone showed that HTC's direction was correct. It turned out to be good for HTC as well," he said. "I'm sure Apple was equally surprised that HTC introduced Touch around the same time."

HTC and Google, with its Android operating system, have been quickly expanding their shares of the exploding market for smartphones since the two joined forces in late 2007 with the Open Handset Alliance. Phones running Android capture about five per cent of the market in 2009, according to research firm Gartner, up from only 0.5 per cent a year earlier.

HTC has been the most aggressive developer and marketer of Android phones in that time, fielding a number of handsets including the very first — the G1 — and Google's showcase product, the Nexus One. Other companies, including Motorola and LG, recently released Android phones as well.

Apple's accusation that HTC stole its innovations is also likely to anger the Taiwanese company. In its early days, HTC invented and designed products for other technology companies, such as the iPaq personal digital assistant for Hewlett-Packard. The company then moved on to designing phones for carriers in Europe and Japan, which are the most "advanced and cut-throat" markets in the world, Wang said.

"That's how you build a strong company because if you can work with the most advanced partners in the most competitive market in the world … then you can do anything. You can truly become an industry leader," he said. "HTC's DNA has always been innovation. It's not just one person, one group or one department, it's always been everywhere. That's the way HTC culture has always been."

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/03/02/apple-htc-patent-lawsuit.html#ixzz0hD3D2KC8

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