ITC delays ruling in Apple patent case against HTC
- — 15 December, 2011 05:20
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has delayed ruling on a patent case brought against smartphone maker HTC by Apple.
The ITC's ruling in the case has been extended to Monday from Dec. 6, the agency said. The ruling was first scheduled for Oct. 20 before an extension to Dec. 6. It's not uncommon for the ITC to postpone rulings when the agency needs more information, an ITC spokeswoman said.
In July, an ITC judge made an initial determination that HTC infringed two Apple patents related to the Android operating system on HTC phones. If the ITC makes the judgment final, Taiwanese HTC could be banned from importing phones to the U.S.
The two companies have been battling over patent issues at the ITC in recent months. In October, the ITC said Apple did not infringe four patents held by HTC.
The Apple complaint, filed in April, concerns patents related to smartphones, including user interfaces and processing units.
