Apple takes bite out of HTC in patent war

Apple has won another round in the ongoing patent war against rival smart-phone operators.

In the latest skirmish, HTC Corp, the Taiwanese phone manufacturer lost a ruling at the US International Trade Commission over patents related to its S3 Graphics division.

HTC had argued that Apple's technology violated S3's patents. The ITC disagreed, leaving HTC bosses red faced.

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Many saw HTC's purchase of S3 in July for $300m as an insurance policy against the wrath of Apple, which is targeting phones which run the rival Android operating system.

The loss at the ITC means that $300m may have been wasted, certainly investors weren't impressed. HTC shares fell 5.81% in Taipei yesterday while Apple fell 1.58% on the NASDAQ (slightly better than the index as a whole).

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