HTC is willing to negotiate with Apple to settle the companies' patent disputes, its chief financial officer told Bloomberg.
Speaking in an interview with the news organization, HTC's Winston Yung said that his company is "open to having discussions" with Apple.
In March 2010, Apple filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission against HTC, saying the handset maker violated 10 of its mobile patents. After a protracted delay, the ITC released an initial ruling earlier this month, saying that HTC did, in fact, violate two of Apple's patents.
"HTC will vigorously fight these two remaining patents through an appeal before the ITC commissioners who make the final decision," Grace Lei, general counsel for HTC, said at the time. "This is only one step of many in these legal proceedings."
That ruling followed a similar loss by Apple just a couple weeks earlier. On July 1, the ITC made an initial determination that Apple violated two patents owned by S3 Graphics, a company that, at the time, was completely independent. Just a few days later, HTC announced its acquisition of S3 Graphics for $300 million, due mainly to its patent portfolio and that ruling.
So with both companies owning a pair of patents that the other has allegedly infringed, things appear to be at a standstill. However, the ITC has the right to bring both cases before its six-person panel to review the initial rulings and make a final determination.
But perhaps HTC doesn't want it to get that far. Speaking to Bloomberg, Yung said that any resolution is on the table, as long as it makes good sense.
"We are open to all sorts of solutions, as long as the solution and the terms are fair and reasonable," Yung told Bloomberg.
For its part, Apple hasn't commented on HTC's willingness to negotiate, and the company did not immediately respond to CNET's request for comment.
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http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20083414-17/htc-well-negotiate-with-apple-over-patent-disputes/#ixzz1TEY3V6tD
