Apple is suing phone maker HTC, alleging that the Taiwanese company is infringing 20 Apple patents related to the user interface, underlying architecture, and hardware of the iPhone.

“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, said Tuesday in a statement. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

HTC makes a number of mobile phones based on Google’s Android operating system.

Apple said that the lawsuit was filed concurrently with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and in U.S. District Court in Delaware.

More to follow.

[Source:Cnet News]

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