HTC, Huawei cleared in US patent dispute

[WASHINGTON] HTC Corp and others did not violate digital camera patents owned by Apple Inc spinoff FlashPoint Technology to make their smartphones, the US International Trade Commission has ruled.

FlashPoint Technology, which filed the complaint in 2012, had originally accused Taiwan-based HTC, China's Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp of infringing four patents for smartphone cameras. One of the patents was dropped as the case proceeded.

An administrative law judge found in a preliminary decision on Sept 30, 2013, that two HTC smartphones - the HTC Vivid and HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE - infringed upon one FlashPoint patent, while Huawei and ZTE were cleared.