Although no one ever thought that Apple would succeed in stopping the imports of any Android terminal in the US, this week the American company he did this and HTC fell "prey" of the measure. HTC One X and EVO 4G are the terminals that can no longer be temporarily imported into the USA, the American customs officials blocking at the entrance to the country part of the shipments aimed at these devices. The measure comes after a decision taken by an American court a few months ago and it is a temporary one, being requested by Apple and being applied while a court verifies whether the claims of the Cupertino company are true.
Practically last year, Apple obtained from an American court the power to prohibit the import of HTC terminals in the USA, but only of devices that infringe a certain patent. Then those from HTC were offered a period of several months in which to modify their terminals in order not to infringe Apple's patents and that period expired on April 19. Basically, Apple claimed in front of a court that HTC infringes an iOS patent that turns email addresses and phone numbers into links and allows users to automatically open a call or the Mail application by clicking on them. Although it was proven that HTC violated the patent, the company did not solve its problems and currently pressing a phone number or an email address automatically opens the application related to calling or sending an email.
For now, the decision to ban imports remains temporary, but if it turns out that these two devices also violate Apple's patents, then HTC would be put in the situation of not being able to sell them in the US. The worst part is that the documents by which the import of the terminals is blocked are secret and HTC cannot do anything else except to wait for the decision of the customs service and the court's decision. I hope HTC modifies their Android long enough to continue selling their devices in the US because Apple needs competition.
The US availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed due to a standard US Customs review of shipments that is required after an ITC exclusion order. We believe we are in compliance with the ruling and HTC is working closely with Customs to secure approval. The HTC One X and HTC Evo 4G LTE have been received enthusiastically by customers and we appreciate their patience as we work to get these products into their hands as soon as possible.
