Apple then countersued Nokia stating that Nokia infringed on 13 user interface patents. Have you seen the Nokia interface? It has hardly changed since I saw my first Series 60 device back in 2001 so it seems like Apple is grasping at straws here (again, this is my view as a consumer).
Apple and Nokia both filed to have each others products blocked from each others countries and this is completely ridiculous from a consumer standpoint. Will a government organization actually block an entire companies products from being sold in their country? Doesn't seem very likely to me.
You can check out the patents that Apple is concerned about here at Gizmodo and see why I think it is stupid of the patent office to grant patents for things people naturally do or would have thought of doing on their phones. Why in the world are there patents for such obvious things as turning off the display as you hold a touchscreen device to your head, object oriented multi-tasking system, object oriented operating system, and more? Many of these were used by HTC and others way before Apple ever patented them. Starting to seem to me that others have the ideas and then Apple has the army of patent lawyers to go get patents issued by the government. Government inefficiency at its best, huh?
Apple is well known for their designs and making the user interface simple and easy. The first iPhone was a rather weak smartphone, but the user interface and fluidity of the operating system showed the world what a smartphone should be capable of doing and it did spur others to step up to the plate. We now see today how Apple helped get us to awesome devices running the Google Android and Palm webOS operating systems. Microsoft is finally responding with Windows Phone 7 Series later this year and it looks like Nokia will have competitive devices (in terms of user interface) with Symbian^3 and later devices this summer.
The iPhone 3GS is a great device and I personally recommend it for many people who are looking for a single device that does most everything they need. However, the iPhone OS is approaching 3 years old with very little changed in the user interface. Many of us have moved onto other devices because we find Apple has some weaknesses in the interface that others have improved upon greatly. I am specifically thinking of notifications, integrated services, and customization.
Personally, I am a bit sick of hearing about these lawsuits and Apple suing HTC actually leaves me feeling sour about Apple. I have been debating whether or not to buy an iPad since it really would not take the place of anything I own and is more of a luxury item. This latest lawsuit pushed me closer to NOT buying one because I am getting a bit tired of Apple's arrogance, even though I do really enjoy using some of their products. Consumers may hear about this lawsuit on the news and think twice about Apple and HTC, which could hurt both of them.
Is Apple worried about HTC and Google Android impacting iPhone sales? Do you feel any differently about Apple after hearing about this lawsuit? As a consumer, do you think there is any merit in these type of patent lawsuits?