Apple cites 'Andy Rubin' angle in lawsuit against HTC

Apple’s bitter lawsuit battle over patent infringement with HTC continues to rage on. Even as the International Trade Commission continues to review the arguments from both the parties, Apple seems to have got its trump card in Andy Rubin. According to a blogpost by FOSS Patents, Andy Rubin, the creator of Android actually began, albeit small at Apple. A low-level engineer at Apple, Andy Rubin, based on Apple's latest claims began ideating Android while he was working at Apple. On this premise, Apple has based its allegations that HTC has infringed on two of Apple patents, of which the 263 "realtime API" patent was a part. 

Apple now alleges that HTC's initial statements about Andy Rubin beginning his career with General Magic, instead of Apple weren't true. In the statement provided by Apple to the ITC, it stated, "Android and Mr. Rubin's relevant background does not start, as HTC would like the Commission to believe, with his work at General Magic or Danger in the mid-1990s. In reality, as the evidence revealed at the hearing, Mr. Rubin began his career at Apple in the early 1990s and worked as a low-level engineer specifically reporting to the inventors of the '263 [realtime API] patent at the exact time their invention was being conceived and developed. [...] It is thus no wonder that the infringing Android platform used the claimed subsystem approach of the '263 patent that allows for flexibility of design and enables the platform to be "highly customizable and expandable" as HTC touts. [...] While Mr. Rubin's inspiration for the Android framework may not be directly relevant to the pending petitions for review, that HTC felt compelled to distort this history is illustrative of the liberties it takes in attacking the ALJ's [initial determination] and the substantial evidence supporting the ALJ's findings."

Now, with Apple taking the Andy Rubin angle in the lawsuit, the entire case again stands at a dicey point, and may tilt in any direction.