Nokia reportedly considering lawsuit over HTC 8X design
Will patent wars come to Windows Phone?
Nokia may be ready to set its legal dogs on HTC over the design of the new company's newly announced Windows Phone 8X smartphone.
According to a Phone Arena source, the feeling emanating from Espoo, Finland is that the Taiwanese manufacturer has copied the look and feel of the recently-announced Nokia Lumia 820 handset.
Nokia "feels strongly" that the front panel and the curved sides of the Lumia 820 have been unfairly emulated by the HTC offering - unveiled just two weeks after Nokia's Sept. 5 reveal - according to the tipster.
The report suggests that Nokia will seek a sales ban on the HTC 8X in some territories.
Seeing double?
The Lumia 820, the smaller sibling of the flagship Lumia 920, offers a 4.3-inch Clear Black LCD screen and a polycarbonate body, which comes in an array of bright colours.
The HTC 8X is the HTC's top-of-the-line Windows Phone 8 offering and also features a 4.3-inch screen, a top-notch spec list and an equally bright array of colours.
Chris Weber, Nokia's head of marketing, also publicly called out HTC's new phones - which includes the lower-spectrum Windows Phone 8S - as "rebranded products," though he didn't say either design copied his company's products at the time.
Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
It's the physical similarities listed above as well as HTC's status as the main threat to Nokia's Windows Phone-led comeback, that is likely to have irked Nokia, if the reports are to be believed.
Via Phone Arena
A technology journalist, writer and videographer of many magazines and websites including T3, Gadget Magazine and TechRadar.com. He specializes in applications for smartphones, tablets and handheld devices, with bylines also at The Guardian, WIRED, Trusted Reviews and Wareable. Chris is also the podcast host for The Liverpool Way. As well as tech and football, Chris is a pop-punk fan and enjoys the art of wrasslin'.