HTC to Apple: we had touchscreen first 18.03.2010
Following Apple proclaiming its intention to sue HTC for blatant infringement in relative to the iPhone’s touch consumer interface, HTC has come out to protect itself, totaling that it was the company that brought out the first 3.5-inch colour touchscreen smart phone in the US in 2002.
“HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer, HTC Corporation.
“HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible.”
With a roll call of industry firsts, counting the first Windows PDA (1998), first Windows Handset (June 2002), first gesture-based smart phone (June 2007) and first Google Android smart phone (October 2008), the message was loud and clear: HTC says it is an inventive company and has not copied Apple by trespassing on its iPhone patents.
“From day one, HTC has focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that deliver unique value for people looking for a smart phone. In 1999, we started designing the XDA and T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition, our first touch-screen smart phones, and they both shipped in 2002 with more than 50 additional HTC smart-phone models shipping since then,” added Chou.
