Apple seeks to broaden HTC import ban

While Apple won a partial victory in December in its patent battles with rival smartphone maker HTC, the scope of the ruling was both fairly tame and narrow enough for HTC to develop a workaround a mere two days after the ruling. According to FOSS Patents, Apple filed an appeal against the International Trade Commission's ruling in the matter and is seeking to broaden the scope of the import ban by including more patents that won't be so simple for HTC to dodge.

"Whatever the scope of Apple's appeal against the ITC may be, I believe Apple has realistic chances of winning a better outcome," says Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents.

Apple initially filed suit against HTC nearly two years ago, claiming the company was in violation of 20 Apple-held patents. As is usual in patent lawsuits, it's been a lengthy tennis match of suits being tossed back and forth with no end in sight.