HTC Ready to Strike Deal with Apple Inc. (AAPL) over latest Patent Dispute

According to a recent report published by Bloomberg Taiwan based smartphone maker HTC Corp. is willing to discuss matters related to patent dispute with Apple Inc. (AAPL). ITC (International Trade Commission) in its initial determination ruled two patent lawsuits in Apple’s favor which has resulted in concern over the profit margins for HTC.

HTC’s CFO, Winston Yung, reportedly said, “We have to sit down and figure it out,” and further added, “We’re open to having discussions.”

The Taiwanese smartphone maker earlier this month announced that they acquired S3 Graphics Co. for $300 million. This deal came in less than a week after S3 Graphics won an ITC ruling against the Cupertino, Calif., based company.

Yung has expressed his company’s desire to engage in talks with Apple and commented:

We are open to all sorts of solutions, as long as the solution and the terms are fair and reasonable,

On and off we’ve had discussions with Apple, even before the initial determination came out.

Apple has been very aggressive in protecting its intellectual property and is already involved in many high profile patent cases. This year particularly has seen AAPL being sued by various companies alleging their own unique claim.

Patent infringement often leads to settlement between the companies involved however, this involves high amount of royalty and in some cases long term license payments.

It will be interesting to see how Apple and HTC settle the matter. Do you think the current patent system in the US is limiting innovation and competition? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

{via Bloomberg}

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6 Comments on “HTC Ready to Strike Deal with Apple Inc. (AAPL) over latest Patent Dispute”

  1. Highlander

    Patents are only doing their job.  Rewarding innovators such as Apple and MS. And keeping Google from outright theft of their hard work. If Google is so open then why not give Bing their search algorithms?

  2. Bryan

    HTC is is a Company Based in Taiwan or in China, what company in this region doesn’t copy cat other companies? 

    1. Trmnl7

      Its short sighted to think only eastern companies copy other companies. Just take a good look at early apple devices and you will clearly see similarities to htcs 2003 alpine. Everyone copies, everyone! .. the patent troll behaviour has become a normal partof business . Leaves innovation behind as secondary so not good for the state of the art form at all….

    2. Anonymous

      The reality is isn’t about HTC, but about the Android OS and the fact Apple sees it as a threat (and rightfully so). HTC phones aren’t the only android phones that “violate” Apple’s patents. Stevie learned his lessons well from his old friend Billy (Gates) regarding how to crush your competition to become a monopoly. Apple can put a huge dent in the availability of Android phones that match or are superior to their iPhones  “IF” they can get a US import injunction levied against HTC. After that Motorola, LG and Samsung will be next, mark my words.

      That said, I don’t disagree with your statement. It is true.

      (Disclaimer: I’m not a Microsoft hater, or anyone’s fanboy. I greatly respect those who have built large and successful companies. I’m a believer in the free market and people “rightfully” protecting their property, intellectual or otherwise.)

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