HTC phone sales face halt in Germany
Posted in: Mobile & Wireless at 29/11/2011 16:53
The Taiwanese technology company HTC faces the bleak prospect of seeing sales of all its smartphones blocked from sale in Germany during the crucial Christmas period, after it withdrew its objections to a patent claim won by the German firm IPCom in February 2009 in a Mannheim court.
HTC's appeal against the 2009 decision was due to be decided on this week. Its withdrawal means that the fourth-largest smartphone maker in the world could see its sales halted in the country. IPCom said in a statement that it "now intends to execute this injunction in the shortest possible time" and that: "We will use the right awarded by the courts, likely resulting in HTC devices disappearing from shops during the crucial Christmas season."
To read this report in The Guardian in full, see:
www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/nov/28/htc-smartphone-sales-halt-germany
Also see:
HTC faces German sales ban after patent battle
HTC may not be able to sell smartphones in Germany in the run-up to Christmas, after the patent licensing company IPCom said it would start enforcing an earlier infringement ruling against HTC.
The judgement was actually handed down almost three years ago, when a Mannheim court said HTC was infringing on a crucial mobile telephony patent that IPCom acquired from Bosch. HTC appealed, putting off the effects of the judgement, and that appeal was due to be played out in court starting on Monday.
www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/communication-breakdown-10000030/htc-faces-german-sales-ban-after-patent-battle-10024887/
HTC told to halt sales in Germany but may ignore order
Smartphone maker HTC has been ordered to halt sales of its 3G devices in Germany by the patent owner Ipcom.
However, the Taiwanese firm has indicated that it will not comply.
HTC said that Ipcom's intellectual property claim had already been ruled invalid by the German Federal Patents court in December 2010.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15941919
