'ITC decision in Apple case a win for HTC'

Taipei: Taiwanese smartphone vendor HTC Corp said on Tuesday a US trade panel's final determination was a win for HTC and it is very pleased.

A company official told Reuters that HTC will launch new phones to bypass the infringed patent very soon and it sees limited impact to the company.

"This decision is a win for HTC and we are gratified that the commission affirmed the judge's determination on the '721 and '983 patents, and reversed its decision on the '263 patent and partially on the '647 patent," the world's No.4 smartphone company said in a statement.

"We are very pleased with the determination and we respect it. However, the '647 patent is a small UI experience and HTC will completely remove it from all of our phones soon."

The International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that HTC had infringed on one of Apple's patents and imposed a formal import ban on any HTC phones that infringe on the patent, starting April 19, 2012.