Big news in the tech community today: Apple has sued HTC for "infringing 20 iPhone patents". Now, this is of course debatable, because HTC has been making smartphones for far longer than Apple (or more, Foxconn).

But, with Steve Jobs in charge, you could almost expect this: [i]"We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We've decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours."[/i]

I do like some of the patents. A favorite is the one titled "Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image". Seriously. Every single phone uses this now. And it was filed Feburary 2nd, so doesn't that just prove that Apple filed it as a way to attack their worst enemy?

Either way, we'll see how the Apple vs. HTC (or more, Andriod) goes.

(Via: [a=http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/02/apple-sues-htc-for-infringing-20-iphone-patents/end_url]Engadget[/a])