The HTC Sensation XL
Some HTC phones will be banned from being on sale in the US in April after the International Trade Commission ruled HTC infringed a patent held by consumer technology giant Apple.
Apple has won a US patent dispute against mobile phone maker HTC, which will see its phones that use the technology covered by the patent banned from sale in the US from 19 April 2012.
HTC, however, sees the ruling in a positive light, calling it a “win”, as it only impacts one patent. Apple had initially claimed HTC infringed on 10 patents.
“We are very pleased with the determination and we respect it,” HTC said in a statement.
The one patent, HTC said, pertains to a feature called “data tapping”, which lets users grab embedded information, such as a phone number, and do something with it, such as make a call, BBC News Online reported.
HTC said it would remove the feature from all its phones soon, which should prevent any disruption to HTC’s business in the US.
