Smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday said it had not violated patents owned by Nokia Corp, because it has licensed the Finnish mobile phone maker’s wireless technology patents since 2003.
The Taoyuan-based company’s remark came a day after Nokia said it filed claims in the US and Germany alleging HTC, Research In Motion Ltd (RIM) and Viewsonic Corp had infringed its patents.
Shares in HTC dropped 4.34 percent, closing at NT$452 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
On Wednesday, Nokia said it had filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) against HTC, suits against HTC and Viewsonic in the Federal District Court of Delaware, against HTC and RIM in the Regional Court in Dusseldorf and against all three companies in the Regional Courts in Mannheim and Munich.
In total, 45 of Nokia’s patents are involved in one or more of the actions, the Finish company said in a statement on its Web site.
“Though we’d prefer to avoid litigation, Nokia had to file these actions to end the unauthorized use of our proprietary innovations and technologies, which have not been widely licensed,” Nokia’s chief legal officer Louise Pentland said in the statement.
HTC, the world’s No. 5 smartphone brand, said it respected innovation and intellectual property.
“We have not received the court notification yet, but we will do our best to protect our rights,” HTC said in a statement yesterday, without making any further comment.
The global smartphone market grew 42.5 percent year-on-year to 144.9 million units in the first quarter of this year, with Samsung Electronics Co leading the market with shipments of 42.2 million units and a market share of 29.1 percent, according to the latest IDC quarterly report released on Tuesday.
Apple Inc slipped to second place with shipments of 35.1 million iPhones in the quarter and a market share of 24.2 percent, while Nokia came third with an 8.2 percent market share, followed by Canadian BlackBerry maker RIM with 6.7 percent market share, IDC said.
IDC said HTC’s shipments fell by 23.3 percent to 6.9 million units in the first quarter from a year earlier, with a market share of 4.8 percent, caused by the company’s difficulties in the US market. “The company is staking future success in large part on its One X and S products,” it added.
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