"Some wars are fought with artillery and helicopters; others
with press releases and lawsuits. In March, Apple fired a missile
by releasing a statement declaring that it was suing smartphone
manufacturer HTC for infringing 20 of its iPhone patents.
""We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented
inventions, or we can do something about it," said Apple CEO Steve
Jobs. "We've decided to do something about it. We think competition
is healthy, but competitors should create their own original
technology, not steal ours."
"In its complaint to US regulator the International Trade
Commission (ITC), Apple claimed -- and continues to claim -- that
Taiwan-based HTC is infringing patents related to the iPhone's user
interface, hardware and software design. Apple named 12 phones that
use this technology: of those, five also use Google's Android
operating system, and seven also use Microsoft Windows mobile
software."