HTC Defeats Apple in Swipe-to-Unlock Patent Dispute

BBC News: It’s been a good new/bad news kind of day for smartphone maker HTC. First the good news: HTC won a patent infringement case brought by Apple. London’s High Court ruled that three of the Apple patents covering “slide-to-unlock” technology were invalid because they were “obvious.” The court said the fourth patent at issue in the case did not apply to HTC’s devices.

Now, the bad news: HTC’s profit declined 58 percent in its most recent quarter. The company reported net profit of $7.40 billion New Taiwan dollars ($247 million), a marked drop from NT$17.52 billion the previous year. Analysts say the smartphone maker’s prospects don’t look good either. “HTC’s third-quarter outlook is dim as competition is still fierce, with new smartphones from Samsung and Apple,” opined Yuanta analyst Dennis Chan.