Dylan McGrath EE Times (03/02/2010 4:45 PM EST)

SAN FRANCISCO—Apple Inc. has filed a lawsuit against Taiwan's HTC Corp.—maker of the so-called Google phone—alleging infringement of some 20 Apple patents related to the iPhone's user interface, underlying architecture and hardware.

Apple (Cupertino, Calif.) said the suit was filed concurrently Tuesday (March 2) with the U.S. International Trade Commission and in U.S. District Court in Delaware.

"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," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, in a statement.

HTC is a handset manufacturer that builds several smartphones, including the Nexus One, which is offered under the Google brand name, and the G1, the first handset based on the Google-backed Android operating system.

"We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours," Jobs said.

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