HTC up for negotiations in Apple patent disputes
HTC Corp. is saying it might be up for a bit of negotiating with Apple Inc. in a legal battle over whether or not HTC has infringed on patents owned by the iPhone-maker that are so old they predate smartphones themselves, according to a report.
"We have to sit down and figure it out," Winston Yung, HTC's chief financial officer, told Bloomberg. "We're open to having discussions."
On July 6, the Taiwanese smartphone and tablet maker bought S3 Graphics Co. for $300 million -- shortly after S3 Graphics won a U.S. International Trade Commission ruling against Apple over two patents related to compression technology, Bloomberg said.
Days later, a judge at the ITC ruled that HTC infringed on two of Apple's patents. With HTC now owning S3 (and thus its patent portfolio), both companies seem to be in violation of the other's patents.
"We are open to all sorts of solutions, as long as the solution and the terms are fair and reasonable," Yung told Bloomberg. "On and off we've had discussions with Apple, even before the initial determination came out."
But, since the ITC rulings, HTC and Apple haven't held any formal talks, Yung said in the report. Apple officials weren't available for comment Tuesday morning.
RELATED:
Apple sues HTC charging patent infringement
Apple, Microsoft group's $4.5-billion bid on Nortel patents approved by courts
Patents in Apple-HTC case filed in 1994 and 1996, long before smartphones existed
-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles
Photo: Apple iPhone 4 units. Credit: Chris Goodney/Bloomberg
