HTC wins patent victory over Apple

By AGENCIES

APPLE lost a key patent battle against smartphone rival HTC in the high court in London today, meaning that the Silicon Valley company cannot ban certain of the Taiwanese firm's products in Britain.

As rumours intensified that Apple is about to launch a cut-price version of its iPad to grab even more of the tablet market, HTC won what one independent lawyer called a "significant" victory after the high court invalidated a patent covering the "slide to unlock" method used to access the main screen. That means that Apple cannot ban imports to the UK of HTC phones that use a similar system – and the decision could affect other Apple cases in Europe against HTC, Motorola and Samsung.

Elsewhere, Bloomberg reported that two sources have told it that Apple is preparing an iPad with a 7in screen – about half the area of its current 10in product. The smaller version could be priced to fight off competition from Amazon and Google, which both have similar offerings: Amazon's Kindle Fire, and Google's Nexus 7, made by Asus and expected to go on sale later in July.

The UK court ruling is the latest round in an international patent war between Apple and rivals that make handsets and tablets using Google's Android mobile software, which is now the most used on smartphones worldwide. Earlier this week Apple won an injunction against Samsung preventing it from importing its Galaxy Tab tablets and Galaxy Nexus smartphone into the US. In response, Samsung and Google are working on a software patch to change how the devices work and circumvent the cause of the injunction.

Peter Bell, senior associate in the intellectual property team at law firm Stevens & Bolton LLP, said the decision was "a considerable defeat" for Apple in the smartphone patent wars: "Two of Apple's prize patents have been knocked out in the UK, including the patent that protects the 'slide to unlock' mechanism that consumers are likely to associate with Apple's products, and a third patent has been knocked out in part. The fourth patent that was in dispute was held not to be invalid, but not infringed by HTC's devices."

Bell suggests that Apple will take the case to the court of appeal, while HTC will try to use the result in other ongoing cases around Europe. Richard Windsor, technology analyst at the stockbroker Nomura, said ahead of the ruling that: "The issue here remains Android. If these [Apple] patents stand up to examination at trial and are found to be valid then there are substantial implications for all Android devices, as it's that software where the infringement claims are being made."

Apple UK on Wednesday declined to comment on the judgment, but reiterated its stance on patents, saying in a statement that "We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours."

Interest in a smaller iPad has intensified, meanwhile, with rumours that Apple will launch such a device, which have circulated on the internet since May 2010, growing as sources in the supply industry have begun to suggest it will happen. Apple has previously taken a similar approach in the music player market, which it dominated with the iPod as the iPad now does with tablets, offering smaller versions at lower prices to shut out rivals.