ITC Agrees to Review Second Apple Complaint Against HTC

The International Trade Commission has agreed to review a second Apple complaint against HTC. The products at issue in this investigation are "hardware and software used in a variety of portable electronic devices, including mobile communication equipment."

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The investigation is based on a complaint filed by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, CA, on July 8, 2011. The complaint alleges violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 in the importation into the United States and sale of certain portable electronic devices and related software that infringe patents asserted by Apple. The complainant requests that the USITC issue an exclusion order and a cease and desist order.

The USITC has identified the following as respondents in this investigation:


● HTC Corp. of China;
● HTC America, Inc., of Bellevue, WA; and
● Exedea, Inc., of Houston, TX.

By instituting this investigation (337-TA-797), the USITC has not yet made any decision on the merits of the case. The USITC's Chief Administrative Law Judge will assign the case to one of the USITC's administrative law judges (ALJ), who will schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing. The ALJ will make an initial determination as to whether there is a violation of section 337; that initial determination is subject to review by the Commission.
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Recently, an ITC judge found HTC in violation of two Apple patents which appear to be at the core of Android. HTC told the media that they and Apple "have to sit down and figure it out."

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