14
May
By Eric Schweibenz
On May 12, 2010, HTC Corp. of Taiwan (“HTC”) filed a complaint requesting that the ITC commence an investigation pursuant to Section 337.

The complaint alleges that Apple, Inc., a/k/a Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, California (“Apple”) unlawfully imports into the U.S., sells for importation, and/or sells within the U.S. after importation certain portable electronic devices and related software, (collectively, the “accused products”) which allegedly infringe HTC’s U.S. Patent Nos. 6,999,800 (the ‘800 patent); 5,541,988 (the ‘988 patent); 6,058,183 (the ‘183 patent); 6,320,957 (the ‘957 patent); and 7,716,505 (the ‘505 patent) (collectively, the “Asserted Patents”).  The complaint asserts that the accused products include portable media players, smartphones, portable computers, tablets, and software to be loaded on such devices.  The complaint specifically identifies Apple’s iPod, iPhone, and iPad product lines.

According to the complaint, the technology at issue in the ‘988, ‘183, and ‘957 patents relates generally to hardware and software used to implement telephone directories within mobile telephone systems.  The complaint describes the ‘800 patent as relating to power management methods in a smart portable electronic device, for example, “by controlling how the smart phone switches among the various combinations of the operational modes of the PDA system and the mobile phone system.”  According to the complaint, the ‘505 patent discloses a power control method for a smart phone, such that when the power supply is low, the smart phone enters a sleep mode and data that can be accessed from volatile memory is transferred to a nonvolatile memory. When the smart phone is charged, it supplies power to the volatile memory and accesses data from the non-volatile memory to initiate normal device operations.

In the complaint, HTC alleges that Apple (or others on its behalf) manufactures the accused products in China and then imports them into the U.S., sells them for importation into the U.S., and/or sells them after importation into the U.S.

Regarding domestic industry, HTC alleges that through its subsidiary HTC America, Inc., it has made significant investment in plant, equipment, labor and capital in the United States for the repair, product support, and other customer support services for HTC's devices that practice the Asserted Patents.  HTC additionally states it made substantial investments in the exploitation of the Asserted Patents through research and development and engineering in the United States for HTC's devices that practice the Asserted Patents, which include the Nexus One, HTC Pure, Droid Incredible by HTC, Droid Eris by HTC, HTC Hero, T-Mobile myTouch 3G, T-Mobile Gl, HTC HD2, HTC Imagio, HTC Tilt2, HTC Touch Pro2, HTC Snap, T-Mobile Dash 3G, HTC Ozone, HTC Touch Cruise, HTC Touch Pro, HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Touch, T-Mobile Shadow, Verizon XV6900, HTC Advantage, HTC S640, HTC Tilt, Mogul by HTC, and HTC S743.

Regarding potential remedy, HTC requests that the Commission issue a limited exclusion order and a permanent cease-and-desist order directed at Apple.