ITC publishes its twice-delayed decision in Apple vs. HTC

HTC was found guilty of infringing on U.S. Patent No. 5,946,647. In boxing parlance, however, it looks much like (at best) a split decision, and Asian investors think it’s a win for HTC.

The only patent found to be infringing is one that allows smartphone users to click on a telephone number in an email and place a call.  It is part of Android, but it plays a relatively minor role. An HTC spokesperson immediately responded that HTC will  “respect” the ruling and planned to design around the patent (presumably with their Android partner, Google), and the ITC gave them until next April to do it. HTC’s seeming lack of concern, coupled with the fact that only ‘647 of the original 10 patents in suit was found to infringe, has pushed HTC shares up the allowable 7% in Asia.