HTC says Apple patent workaround ready
HTC has reportedly already engineered a workaround to sidestep a U.S. agency ruling that HTC infringed on one of Apple's patents.
The move became necessary after the International Trade Commission, a federal agency with the power to enforce bans on products shipping to the U.S., ruled yesterday that HTC infringed on Apple's patent for data detection. The process allows a mobile device to recognize things like e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and addresses in text and automatically move them to a calendar, dialer, or mapping application.
HTC Chief Executive Officers Peter Chou dismissed the feature, saying during a media briefing earlier today that "it's actually quite rarely used," Bloomberg reported. Chou went on to criticize the agency's decision: "This industry should not allow one company use its powerful weapon to stop other innovation and take it all...this is not fair," Reuters reported.