HTC Not Infringing Apple’s Patents; U.K Judge

According to a high court ruling, HTC has not violated four of Apple’s European-held patents so it cannot be banned.

Judge Christopher Floyd also ruled that three patents were invalid, and the only patent which is considered valid is Apple’s photo management software but HTC did not copy it.

As rumors intensified that Apple is preparing to launch a much smaller version of the iPad to vigorously compete with Google and Microsoft and grab even more of the tablet market, HTC’s win can be called as a significant victory and, in a way, it will put more pressure on Apple. The high court nullified a patent dispute covering the “slide to unlock” method used to access the home screen of the phone. This means Apple cannot ban the import of HTC phones that uses a similar system to the UK , and this ruling will ultimately affect other cases in Europe that Apple filed against different companies like Motorola and Samsung.

Apple is in a court battle with HTC and Korea-based Samsung in more than 10 countries around the world, including the United States.

Earlier this week, a U.S. judge allowed Apple’s appeal for a pre-trial injunction against the sales of Galaxy Nexus, a product of Samsung, in the United States. The court also banned sales of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the United States.

The court’s decision comes on an ordinary working day in UK, despite Americans enjoying a holiday because of their Independence Day.

An HTC spokesperson said: “We remain disappointed that Apple continues to favor competition in the courtroom over competition in the marketplace,” but was satisfied with the court’s decision.

Apple had no additional statement beyond: “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

It is still unknown whether or not Apple would appeal to the U.K Court of Appeal against the ruling.