As if they didn’t have enough issues already, HTC now face a potential import ban on the HTC One into one of the worlds biggest smartphone markets; the United States of America.
A preliminary ruling this week stated that Nokia’s patent claims against HTC had foundation on 2 specific patents that relate to the Qualcomm chip in the HTC One. This Qualcomm chip is responsible for the phone reception and boosting signal to ensure that the phone has good reception and audio quality during calls.
At this time, the understanding is that HTC have begun working with Qualcomm to avoid the preliminary ruling becoming a final ruling and enforcing the import ban. The other realistic option available to HTC to avoid what would almost certainly be a crippling blow to a struggling companay is to pay a licensing fee to Nokia to allow them (HTC) to continue to use the technology they’re currently using.
Have the patent wars gone too far when it’s impacting the quality of product that consumers are seeing?
