(Note: all views expressed are SOLELY those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Mobileshop.com)
As you may remember, from a blog post about a week ago, Apple have started legal proceedings against HTC, claiming IP infringement on virtually all of the Taiwanese handset manufacturer’s portfolio. A huge number of people (myself included) have wondered out loud if it’s less about HTC and more about trying to get one over on Google, what with Android becoming a more viable threat to the iPhone.
New information’s arisen via CNN’s Brainstorm Tech blog, which suggests that not only is that the case, but that the lawsuit is only part of what’s happening.
This new information, if accurate, seems to strongly suggest that Apple are using legal chicanery to try and stamp out any competition to their beloved iPhone, implying that Apple see the mobile phone market as their playground. It appears that Apple have also been in talks with other handset manufacturers (notably, all of them seem to make Android phones), in what could be seen as a bit of a shakedown bid. According to Oppenheimer’s Yair Reiner:
“Starting in January, Apple launched a series of C-Level discussions with tier-1 handset makers to underscore its growing displeasure at seeing its iPhone-related IP [intellectual property] infringed. The lawsuit filed against HTC thus appears to be Apple’s way of putting a public, lawyered-up exclamation point on a series of blunt conversations that have been occurring behind closed doors.
“Our checks also suggest that these warning shots are meaningfully disrupting the development roadmaps for would-be iPhone killers. Rival software and hardware teams are going back to the drawing board to look for work-arounds. Lawyers are redoubling efforts to gauge potential defensive and offensive responses. And strategy teams are working to chart OS strategies that are better hedged.”
In short, if this is accurate, one could conclude that Apple are playing dirty tricks to try and force competitors out of the market. However, defenders of the Cupertino-based electronics giant have been quick to point out that Apple are merely defending their intellectual property, and have every right to do so. However, the list of things included as intellectual property are for things that it seems ludicrous a company would be able to patent, including such things as, to put it in layman’s terms, “unlocking the phone by interacting with the screen”, and “using more than one finger on screen at once”.
So, when looked at that way, does the problem lie less with Apple (who are justifiably defending their IP) and more with the US Patent and Trademark Office (who should never have granted such wide-reaching patents in the first place)? It wouldn’t be the first time such a thing has happened, and the USPTO has come in for heavy criticism for many, many years, for the patent procedures and guidelines being completely broken. In that case, then, Apple are merely being opportunistic, but again, the question needs to be asked: is their motivation behind it actually to try and stifle any competition for the iPhone? And if so, after they’ve taken on the makers of the Nexus One, are phones like the Motorola Milestone going to be their next target?
Still, this while situation could have one unexpected benefit for another company: Microsoft. If people really are scaling back their Android development, then that may very well open up an opportunity for Microsoft to sweep in, and have Windows Phone 7 Series take a significant portion of the leftover market share. Microsoft, it seems, are more than willing to step in and stand alongside people against Apple, and they have begun to aggressively promote their own IP portfolio. Oh, and of course, Microsoft aren’t afraid to take the battle to Apple directly, having taken on (and beaten) Apple in the courts before.
All we can do is sit back and watch the legal fireworks. Whether you believe Apple are acting like a bully or not, or whether it’s going to cause problems for Google or not, it’s certainly going to be interesting to watch how this thing all pans out.
(image credit: Wired)
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