Nokia Wins Ban on HTC One in EU, Threatens to Sink Struggling Handsets

From DailyTech: Thus far it's been mainly stormy weather for struggling Taiwanese phonemaker HTC Corp. (TPE:2498), which saw its "hero phone", the HTC One, stymied by supply shortages. Now just as HTC appears to be expanding its deliveries on the 1080p Android handset, it's been hit by another setback from a familiar foe.

A suit in the Amsterdam District Court, Netherlands has been filed against HTC and its microphone supplier, Geneva, Switzerland-based STMicroelectrics N.V. (EPA:STM), looking to block shipments of the HTC One. And on Monday Nokia announced that it had won a preliminary injunction against the One, an injunction that it will look to mirror in other markets.

According to Nokia, it invented, engineered, and designed the microphones that are currently used (without permission) in the HTC One. It said it had used the microphones in its own phones, but supplier STMicroelectronics funneled the technology to Nokia's Taiwanese rival.

Comments a Nokia spokesperson; "HTC has no license or authorization from Nokia to use these microphones or the Nokia technologies from which they have been developed."

The microphone in question was billed by HTC as one of the phone's selling points. HTC dubbed it a "dual membrane HDR". Nokia felt this sounded suspiciously similar to the "high amplitude audio capture" mic that it designed for capturing subtle details of music or speech. It took apart an HTC One and inspected the mic, allegedly finding evidence that its technology had been pilfered.

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