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HTC takes Apple patent battle to U.K.

The suit follows an initial judgment from the U.S. International Trade Commission that went against HTC.

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Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
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Roger Cheng

HTC has filed another lawsuit against Apple in the U.K., further escalating the patent battle between the two smartphone manufacturers.

HTC phones such as the Status are caught up in a major patent battle with Apple. Josh Miller

Bloomberg reported today that the suit was filed on Friday in London. The suit comes two weeks after HTC suffered a blow when the U.S. International Trade Commission made an initial ruling that the Taiwanese company had violated two of Apple's patents.

The U.K. suit represents a heightening of the tensions between the two companies even as HTC has said it was willing to talk with Apple to resolve the dispute outside of the courtroom.

The U.K. notice didn't specify the nature of the lawsuit, Bloomberg said.

For Apple, this is just the latest in a long line of legal developments. Earlier today, it had successfully gotten Samsung to halt sales of the U.S. version of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia, pending the resolution of its suit there.

HTC, meanwhile, has attempted to shore its position with the pending acquisition of S3 Graphics, which has some patents that Apple is allegedly using without permission.

As one of the primary beneficiaries of the rise in interest for Android smartphones, HTC was Apple's first target as it went after smartphone makers. The move is seen as a way by Apple to intimidate and slow down its competitors, many of which are gaining ground on the company.

Apple wasn't immediately available to comment on the latest lawsuit.