WILMINGTON, Del. - HTC Corp., Asia’s second-biggest maker of smartphones, filed infringement claims against Apple Inc. yesterday, using patents obtained from Google Inc. last week.
The nine patents originated with Palm Inc., Motorola Inc., and Openwave Systems Inc., with Google taking ownership within the past year, according to US Patent and Trademark Office records. California-based Google recorded transfer of the patents to HTC on Sept. 1, according to the agency’s website.
HTC sued Apple yesterday in federal court in Delaware, claiming infringement of four of those patents that originally were issued to Motorola. HTC, which is based in Taiwan, also amended a complaint with the US International Trade Commission in Washington, alleging infringement of three patents first issued to Openwave and two others originally owned by Palm.
Apple, the world’s biggest smartphone maker, has filed patent cases against handset makers using Google’s Android operating system, including Samsung Electronics Co., Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., and HTC.
