HTC has amended its lawsuit against Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) to include nine more patents it recently acquired from Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) underscoring the intense battle of patents in the smartphone industry. [1] Google had acquired these patents from Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI), HP (NYSE:HPQ) and OpenWave over the last year. Previously HTC counter sued Apple in May when Apple accused HTC of infringing on 20 patents related to the iPhone with its own touch-screen devices. [2] HTC sued Apple again in August claiming that Apple products infringe on three HTC patents. [3]
The mobile patents have started to play such an important role that it has led to significant patent acquisitions. Incidentally, last month Google acquired Motorola Mobility at a premium of nearly 60% to strengthen its portfolio of patents and protect itself from lawsuits.
Our $510 price estimate for Apple shares is about 30% above market price.
See our complete analysis for Apple stock here
Notes:- Google Hands HTC Patents to Use Against Apple, Bloomberg, September 8th, 2011 [↩]
- Apple sues HTC for alleged infringement of 20 iPhone patents, AppleInsider, March 2nd, 2011 [↩]
- New HTC suit accuses Apple’s Mac, iPhone, iPad of patent infringement, AppleInsider, August 16th, 2011 [↩]
