HTC One X, EVO 4G LTE held by US customs following Apple patent ban

[Leeky]

Consumers eager to get their hands on HTC's One X and EVO 4G LTE smartphones will have to wait a bit longer after shipments of the new handsets were held by US customs, pending a review to confirm changes have been made as a result of the patent dispute lost against Apple in December.

HTC will now have to delay the intended release of their EVO 4G LTE on Friday, as well as deal with constrained stock at AT&T for their One X.

At the time, Apple claimed several of HTC's Android devices infringed on ten separate patents. After many appeals it resulted in two separate claims over a single patent in which HTC was found to be infringing. The patent in question was US Patent No. 5,946,647, covering a "system and method for performing an action on a structure in computer-generated data."

As a result of this the ITC issued a limited exclusion order that prohibited the Taiwanese phone maker from importing any devices that infringed the order. HTC said they would make changes to prevent it becoming an issue. The pending review will determine if the smartphones comply with the ITC's ruling.

"The US availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed due to a standard U.S. Customs review of shipments that is required after an ITC exclusion order," a spokesperson for HTC said in a statement. "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."

In response to the news the Taiwanese firm's stock prices tumbled once again, dropping a further 6.5-percent. HTC is unable to say exactly when the shipments will be cleared and stated that it depended entirely on how fast US Customs cleared the devices. Apple did not respond to requests for comment.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/48611-htc-one-x-evo-4g-lte-held-by-us-customs-following-apple-patent-ban.html

 

[cookiedude]

a "system and method for performing an action on a structure in computer-generated data."

WTF? How can such a generalisation be given a patent in the first place? Patents are supposed to be in place to protect original inventions, not a statement that can be applied to practically any situation!!

I've decided to patent a "system and method for performing an action pertaining to computer-generated data." then I'm going to sue apple!

 

[PC nerd]

Christ's sake Apple! Go away!

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

No kidding... they sued Samsung over a patent that they say infringed on Siri... not because it was called Suri, or was a voice assistant, but because it was a program that searched multiple sources at once.

Anyone remember Tonya Harding? Cause that's who Apple reminds me of.

 

[cookiedude]

No kidding... they sued Samsung over a patent that they say infringed on Siri... not because it was called Suri, or was a voice assistant, but because it was a program that searched multiple sources at once.

Anyone remember Tonya Harding? Cause that's who Apple reminds me of.

I'm surprised they haven't gone after Google for the same principle!

Given how they've manipulated Siri to avoid providing results that favour their competitors I wonder how long it will be before consumers start suing them

 

[Tygerstrike]

I may be mistaken in this but I'm pretty sure if Apple is censoring the search results on the internet and you havent opt'd in for it, you do have a right to follow up with civil litigation.

 

[Guest]

I dont know about others but I just got word that my One X which was held up by customs is now state side and on its way to me.
Havent updated my twitter: @sam_g_steel

 

[Archean]

I guess HTC may be able to get their handsets in the US soon, as they have used different ROM for US versions of HTC One series hand sets, which doesn't involve the 'alleged patent infringement'.