You might remember a few months back when Apple went on the legal warpath and sued HTC and Nokia for violating its intellectual property and patents. Part of all these cases tends to be a duplicate federal court and U.S. International Trade Commission complaint. Well the ITC just spoke up, and Apple's arguments haven't impressed them.ITC staff lawyer, Erin Joffre clarified the ITC's position at the start of the ITC hearing in Washington just today. Apple claims that phones made by HTC and Nokia are making unauthorized use of their IP. They point to all manner of user interface and hardware features, even esoteric ideas like power management for mobile chips.
The ITC staff acts on behalf of the public to mediate trade disputes, so its recommendations are not binding. Although, they do carry weight. It's too early to tell how this will work out, but it's probably going to be years before we see a resolution.
