As reported by the AFP yesterday HTC have complained that Apple sues too much by stating: “HTC is disappointed at Apple’s constant attempts at litigations instead of competing fairly in the market.” The argument seems to come back to whether HTC think that patents are fair and reasonable. The quantity of lawsuits shouldn’t be considered unless they are saying ‘Apple file nuisance lawsuits against us…’ which is not apparently the case. Either you have a moral and legal right to defend your Intellectual Property or you don’t. Hence it seems HTCs main argument is that Apple should stop filing patent lawsuits against other companies and just make great products.

Patents can be broadly grouped into two piles: Patents that are based on a real world application of an idea that has been developed, implemented and tested by a person or company; and those patents that are about ideas that have not come to fruition. The patent system is suppose to protect the rights of hard working people/companies that pour hundreds, thousands or millions of dollars into the development of ideas into products that other people will pay them money for. In that respect if Apple did genuinely do the hard yards behind their patents surely it’s reasonable to protect their investment if other companies simply take their ideas and then sell them to make money for themselves.

If HTC have an issue it should surely be more that they are annoyed with themselves that they could not develop their own ideas to compete with Apple on their own terms. If they genuinely did develop their own ideas and Apple are out of order, take it to court and settle it there. Complaining about it highlights that HTC realize what they’ve done and that they’re going to lose or be forced to settle out of court.