What Apple suing HTC might mean for consumers

On Tuesday, Apple filed a lawsuit against Taiwan-based phonemaker HTC for violating some 20 patents.  While such a suit might seem above the interest of everyday consumers, the results could have a lasting impact on the smart phones currently on the market. In intiating what some believe to be a protracted patent war, Apple could be looking to stymie the growth of its most direct competition: Android-based touchscreen phones. 

(HTC, as you'll recall, is the maker of Google's Nexus One smart phone, which runs on the Google's Android operating system. HTC phones earn spots at or near the top of our smart phone Ratings, propelled by high marks for navigation and multimedia.)

Such lawsuits have killed competition before. Over at the NYT Bits blog, Nick Bilton writes:

In 2004, TiVo sued the satellite TV distributor EchoStar, accusing the company of infringing on its patent on DVR technology. After some drawn-out litigation, TiVo ended up winning the case, and a Texas judge ordered EchoStar to disable the DVR functions on most of its set-top boxes. An appeals court is reviewing the matter.

“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs in a statement, "We’ve decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

But a number of commentators—such as those at MSNBC, Computerworld, and Slate—fear that, despite Jobs's statement, Apple's actions will reduce competition and stifle innovation, either by scaring other companies into avoiding any kind of technology remotely similar to Apple's, or by a court order a la EchoStar.

So what impact will the suit have on consumers?  In the short term
as the suit plays out, probably nothing noticeable, though the ultimate result could be dramatic. Time—and the U.S. legal system—will tell.

—Nick K. Mandle