[JURIST] HTC [corporate website; Bloomberg backgrounder] filed three new patent complaints [USITC notice of receipt, PDF] against Apple [corporate website; Bloomberg backgrounder] on Tuesday through the US International Trade Commission (USITC) [official website], the latest in a series of suits filed back and forth between the two companies. Patents 7,765,414; 7,672,219 and 7,417,944 [texts] are at issue, all dealing with various functions of wireless communications systems. Spokespersons for both companies suggested the other come up with original ideas [Bloomberg report] rather than stealing. HTC also expressed a willingness to settle. The investigation is expected to last 15 to 18 months and could delay the rival companies’ pending civil suits. The last patent infringement battle ended in defeat for HTC [JURIST report]. No appeal has been filed yet in that case.

Apple has been battling a number of lawsuits recently. Last week, a class action lawsuit [JURIST report] filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California [official website] alleged that Apple and five major publishers colluded to illegally fix electronic book (e-book) prices. Apple filed a complaint against Samsung [JURIST report] last month in an effort to bar importation of Samsung’s smartphones and tablets. Apple claimed Samsung’s “Galaxy” line copies its iPhone and iPad technology. The complaint came just a week after Samsung filed a similar complaint [JURIST report] seeking to prevent Apple from importing iPads and iPhones. Samsung claimed that Apple violated five patents also related to smartphones and tablets. In addition, Samsung filed a patent infringement suit [Bloomberg report] against Apple in the High Court in London in June. Finnish telecommunications company Nokia [corporate website] announced in June that it had entered into an agreement [press release; JURIST report] with Apple, settling all patent disputes between the parties and directing Apple to pay royalties to Nokia for the term of the agreement.