Smartphone maker HTC Corp. has agreed to acquire all of the shares of U.S. mobile Internet applications company Dashwire for as much as US$18.5 million, “in a move that could give it more tools in possible future patent litigation against competitors, including Apple,” according to “The Wall Street Journal” (http://macte.ch/fMIBt).
In a statement, HTC said it would purchase Seattle-based Dashwire to strengthen its mobile cloud-based services offering, the article adds. Cloud services allow users to store data, documents, and photos via the Internet rather than on devices.
Earlier this week it was announced has sued Apple in the UK. The complaint, filed July 29 in London, comes two weeks after HTC lost a ruling against Apple at the U.S. International Trade Commission. Notice of the U.K. case didn’t specify the nature of the new lawsuit, notes “Bloomberg” (http://macte.ch/dvUUS). The Washington-based ITC ruled on July 15 that HTC’s Android-based mobile phones infringe two Apple patents, a judgment that HTC has said it will appeal.
However, last month HTC said it was willing to negotiate with Apple after both sides scored victories at the U.S. International Trade Commission. On July 6 HTC announced an US$300 million deal to buy S3 Graphics, less than a week after that company won an ITC ruling against Apple over two patents. In a July 15 initial determination, the same commission ruled in Apple’s favor on two other patents.
Regarding the latter, the US trade commission said that HTC was guilty of violating two Apple patents when it produced mobile phones based on the Android operating system. Apple had filed a complaint against HTC for infringing ten of their patents.
— Dennis Sellers