Apple Wins Partial Victory on Patent Claim Over Android Features
A federal agency ruled on Monday that a set of important features commonly found in smartphones are protected by an Apple patent, a decision that could force changes in the way Google’s Android phones function.
The ruling, by the United States International Trade Commission, can be appealed. But it is one of the most significant so far in a growing array of closely watched patent battles being waged around the globe by nearly all of the major players in the mobile industry.
The ruling was only a partial victory for Apple because the commission overruled an earlier decision in Apple’s favor in the case, involving a patent related to how software is organized internally on mobile devices. It would have been harder for the defendant in the case — HTC, one of the world’s largest makers of smartphones that run the Android system — to adapt its devices to avoid infringing that patent, legal experts said.
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The decision could potentially affect far more phones than those made by HTC because the underlying target of the suit is Google, creator of the Android system that now powers more than half of all smartphones sold worldwide. Apple is suing several other makers of Android devices, as is Microsoft, and companies that make Android products are returning the favor in most instances through countersuits.
“It’s an important victory for Apple, but it’s just one of many battles,” said Alexander Poltorak, chief executive of the General Patent Corporation, an intellectual property strategy firm, adding that the ruling will pressure other Android phone makers to license the technology from Apple or make changes to avoid patent infringement issues.