As there is so much news about who Apple is suing and who, in return, is suing Apple right back we are going to combine some news today. First up is an interesting piece where we find HTC has filed a new suit against Apple based on some patents that were formerly owned by one time bosom buddy Google. Remember that long ago time when Eric Schmidt sat on the Google board and things seemed so cozy between the two.  Now things are different and these two companies now sit on opposite sides of the market. However, where Apple wants it all (they really do want to control everything about their products) Google is willing to work with others (for now).

The suit that HTC has filed is based on Patents that were transferred to them from Google just days ago (September 1st). These were originally from multiple companies such as Palm and Motorola. This is the strongest show of support from Google since the Apple legal team began its campaign against Android. It may also be an indication that Google is getting ready to wade into the party. After all, the advertising giant recently bought Motorola and now has its stable of patents to bring to bear on Apple. Things are certainly going to heat up soon and with the last few “less than expected” verdicts handed down to Apple competitors in the EU we might indeed be seeing a shifting in the never ending patent wars over smart phones and tablets.

Moving on to the next item that we found interesting; we come to another Judge using that rarest of abilities; common sense. Here we find that Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett has told Apple that they cannot show that Samsung’s products can potentially hurt sales unless Apple is willing to show their exact sales numbers. This is something that Apple has never liked to do. They will hint at things, make indirect claims but it is usually up to the press to try and ferret out the information based on other factors that can be tracked. However, because of this policy of secrecy Apple may lose out one way or the other. If they reveal the numbers and they show that Samsung is not hurting them in the US or EU these exact numbers can be leaked to the rest of the world and it would set a precedent that might have echoes around the globe. It would be really a pain if Apple had to actually prove things instead of just claiming them and having done with it.

Sources CNET and Fudzilla

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