HTC Altering Components to Exclude HTC One from a Possible U.S. Import Ban

Taiwanese phone maker HTC is reportedly rushing altering the components of its flagship HTC One in a bid to outwit a possible import ban in the U.S. and other major markets, following a preliminary U.S. court victory by Nokia.

The court decision covers old HTC phone and HTC One and even newer devices using the same radio technology covered in the lawsuit. The infringed patents are for a method for receiving and transmitting radio signals and a method for eliminating unwanted signals.

By shifting to another radio technology, to be provided by Qualcomm, HTC seeks to prevent another lawsuit amid financial woes the company is going through, including hemorrhaging of executives.

Despite the HTC One being recognised by many tech Web sites as the best Android smartphone, sales is weak and this would translate into an expected first quarterly loss for the Taiwanese phone maker since its initial public offering in 2002.

Among HTC's recent moves to improve its finances is sell its equity in Beats Electronics. To boost its finances, HTC is looking beyond manufacturing smartphones to building a mobile OS for the lucrative Chinese market.

Mark Durrant, Nokia spokesman, said that even if the Finnish phone company began the lawsuit in 2012 before the HTC One was sold, the popular smartphone still breached its patents and would be included in any potential ban that the International Trade Commission (ITC) could impose.

"The HTC One contains the same component which was found in the ITC Initial Determination to have infringed Nokia's US patent 7,415,247 and so we believe the HTC One would also be subject to any exclusion order ultimately imposed against infringing products," PC World quoted Mr Durrant's email.

The ITC is slated to release its final ruling on the Nokia lawsuit in January 2013, which gives the Taiwanese firm only 3 months to convince the ITC to reverse its decision or find another option.

Nokia has another lawsuit against the HTC One filed in May 2012 at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. It also filed lawsuits against HTC in German courts in Dusseldorf, Mannheim and Munich, bringing to 50 patents the Finnish firm has filed against HTC in courts in the U.S., UK, Germany and Italy.