HTC takes Apple patent battle to U.K.

HTC takes Apple patent battle to U.K.
Bloombergreported today that the suit was filed on Friday in London. The suit comes two weeks after HTC suffered a blow when the U.S. International Trade Commission made an initial ruling that the Taiwanese company had violated two of Apple's patents. The U.K. suit represents a heightening of the tensions between the two companies even as HTC has said it was willing to talk with Apple to resolve the dispute outside of the courtroom. The U.K. notice didn't specify the nature of the lawsuit, Bloomberg said. For Apple, this is just the latest in a long line of legal developments. Earlier today, it had successfully gotten Samsung to halt sales of the U.S. version of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia, pending the resolution of its suit there. HTC, meanwhile, has attempted to shore its position with the pending acquisition of S3 Graphics, which has some patents that Apple is allegedly using without permission. As one of the primary beneficiaries of the rise in interest for Android smartphones, HTC was Apple's first target as it went after smartphone makers. The move is seen as a way by Apple to intimidate and slow down its competitors, many of which are gaining ground on the company. Apple wasn't immediately available to comment on the latest lawsuit.