Apple Files Lawsuit Against HTC, Google Gets Caught in the Middle

According to multiple news sources as well as Apple's web site, Apple has officially filed suit against HTC for infringing on 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone's user interface, underlying architecture and hardware.

Due to Google's OS being installed onto the HTC phone, this places a damper onto the future of this product as well as future Android phones, which have been on the rise. Apple is stating that it is in favor of free competition and a free market, but then their actions say otherwise.

The bigger question stemming from this lawsuit is how it will affect other phones that are on the brink of being launched. This suit brings about many speculations towards other manufactures that are trying to produce smartphones with features that can compete with the iPhone.

From the consumer end, people just want cool gadgets with more features and the ability to upgrade and morph as new features are available. I think people are getting away from the concept a, at least a little, of toss away and go with the new. People are looking to be more for a product that has the ability to grow with them and that have options to upgrade in the future.

Other technology analyst are wondering how this lawsuit will effect Apple. They are remembering the lawsuit that Apple took against Microsoft and HP back in 1988 that mostly took Apple's attention away from developing their own product. Analysts really do not want to see a repeat performance of Apple being distracted by their own lawsuit.

Here is a complete list of the patent infringements under the lawsuit, this list has only ten of the patents, and others are speculating that the remaining ten patents are being filed with the ITC.

Patent No. 7,362,331: "Time-Based, Non-Constant Translation Of User Interface Objects Between States"

Patent No. 7,479,949: "Touch Screen Device, Method, And Graphical User Interface For Determining Commands By Applying Heuristics"

Patent No. 7,657,849: "Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image"

Patent No. 7,469,381: "List Scrolling And Document Translation, Scaling, And Rotation On A Touch-Screen Display"

Patent No. 5,920,726: "System And Method For Managing Power Conditions Within A Digital Camera Device."

Patent No. 7,633,076: "Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices"

Patent No. 5,848,105: "GMSK Signal Processors For Improved Communications Capacity And Quality"

Patent No. 7,383,453: "Conserving Power By Reducing Voltage Supplied To An Instruction-Processing Portion Of A Processor"

Patent No. 5,455,599: "Object-Oriented Graphic System"

Patent No. 6,424,354: "Object-Oriented Event Notification System With Listener Registration Of Both Interests And Methods"www.apple.com