HTC to appeal on patent ruling

HTC, the Taiwanese smartphone maker, has vowed to appeal after a US court ruled it had infringed on patents held by rival Apple.

Shares in the smartphone group fell as much as 6.5 per cent yesterday in the wake of Friday's preliminary judgement by The International Trade Commission (ITC).

The court, which has the authority to ban the import of goods that infringe, ruled that HTC had breached two of Apple's patents. The Californian group had claimed its rival had infringed on 10 patents in its suit.

Grace Lei, HTC's general counsel, said the company was "highly confident we have a strong case for the ITC appeals process".