In a partial victory for the maker of the venerated iPhone, the U.S. International Trade Commission has ruled that rival handset maker, HTC, has infringed on one of Apple's patents.
The six-member commission on Monday found that Taiwan-based HTC -- a smartphone maker that incorporates Google's Android mobile operating system -- infringed on a patent that allows users to tap on a phone number in an email and immediately be connected, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
The ruling, which the Mercury News reported is subject to a 60-day review by the Obama administration, was a relatively narrow one: Apple only prevailed on one of 10 patents originally asserted, according to patent consultant Florian Mueller. The ITC on Monday said Apple asserted several of the same patents against Espoo, Finland-based Nokia Corp. but the rivals later entered into a settlement agreement.
The commission's decision, Mueller wrote in his popular blog, "falls far short of anything that would force HTC out of the U.S. market in the near term."
"It's important to bear in mind that Apple is not the only one to sue: it is being aggressively countersued by all three major Android device makers," Mueller added.
The ITC appeared to give HTC and the mobile operators that carry its smartphones some time to comply with the order, which prohibits "the entry of personal data and mobile communications devices and related software that infringe" on Apple's patent.
"Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Commission has determined that based on consideration of competitive conditions in the United States economy, the exclusion of articles subject to the order shall commence on April 19, 2012 to provide a transition period for U.S. carriers," the ITC wrote Monday in a notice of its decision.
