[JURIST] The US International Trade Commission (USITC) [official website] announced Monday that it will investigate a claim [press release] made last month [JURIST report] by Apple [corporate website; Bloomberg backgrounder] that HTC [corporate website; Bloomberg backgrounder] committed patent infringement related to touchscreen and scrolling features. Alleging that HTC violated section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 [text] by importing copyrighted products, Apple is seeking an exclusion order as well as a cease and desist order. The USITC will establish a completion date for the investigation in 45 days.

This latest investigation is the most recent installment in Apple’s patent dispute with HTC. Last month, the USITC ruled against HTC [JURIST report] for patent infringement on patents 5,946,647 and 6,343,263 [texts], both of which relate to cell phones that run the Android operating system. That was the second suit against HTC by Apple. Last year, Apple filed suits [JURIST report] in the US District Court for the District of Delaware and with the USITC alleging patent infringements. HTC later also filed a suit [JURIST report] against Apple for infringement related to portable electronic devices. In addition, the USITC announcement comes days after South Korean regulators fined [JURIST report] Apple USD $2,855 for collecting location information from its iPhone and iPad users. It is the first time Apple has been punished for collecting location information [Reuters report] from users of its widely popular mobile computing products.