Been eagerly awaiting the HTC One X or the EVO 4G LTE? You may need to wait a bit longer, because The Verge first broke the news that U.S. Customs weren’t allowing shipments of the two HTC flagship devices enter the US. The reason? A patent suit from Apple, alleging that HTC infringed on their patents vis a vi hyperlinking in the messaging app. Apple won an injunction on HTC devices back in December, but it only recently went into effect.
This is bad news for Sprint in particular, as it has been promoting heavily on the HTC EVO 4G LTE as the company’s new flagship phone. Sprint is referring all questions to HTC, who had this to say to AndroidCentral:
“The US availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed due to a standard U.S. Customs review of shipments that is required after an ITC exclusion order. We believe we are in compliance with the ruling and HTC is working closely with Customs to secure approval. The HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE have been received enthusiastically by customers and we appreciate their patience as we work to get these products into their hands as soon as possible.”
I doubt Apple can block the import indefinitely, but for the meantime, it’s a serious win in their column and a sign of what we may see coming down the line in the Apple/Google war.
I thought it was the job of Customs to protect the country from potentially dangerous goods, not to protect corporate profits?