Edible Apple

Apple continues to put the screws on Android as the International Trade Commission (ITC) announced yesterday that they have agreed to investigate yet another one of Apple’s complaints against HTC for allegedly using Apple’s patented technology in their Android-based handsets.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to institute an investigation of certain portable electronic devices and related software. The products at issue in this investigation are hardware and software used in a variety of portable electronic devices, including mobile communication equipment.

The investigation is based on a complaint filed by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, CA, on July 8, 2011. The complaint alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the United States and sale of certain portable electronic devices and related software that infringe patents asserted by Apple. The complainant requests that the USITC issue an exclusion order and a cease and desist order.

Apple thus far has experienced success with the ITC with respect to HTC. In its first filing from March 2010, an ITC judge ruled that HTC’s products in question violate two of Apple’s patents.

Following that ruling, HTC appeared for the first time more amenable to striking a licensing deal with Apple with HTC CFO Winston Yung stating, “We have to sit down and figure it out. We’re open to having discussions. 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.”