HTC fires back at Apple as Samsung moves to have several Apple lawyers disqualified

Am I the only one that's beginning to feel like like Apple has been in the news more as of late for their legal battles than for any of their products? Shortly after Apple filed a new complaint with the International Trade Commission against HTC, the Taiwanese firm has responded to the Apple's claim of patent infringement. HTC general counsel Grace Lei had this to say about Apple's filing:

“HTC is dismayed that Apple has resorted to competition in the courts rather than the market place. HTC continues to vehemently deny all of Apple’s past and present claims against it and will continue to protect and defend its own intellectual property as it has already done this year.”

The Apple's legal news doesn't end there, though, as Samsung has filed a motion to have several of Apple's external lawyers barred from the suit between the two companies. It seems that at least five of the lawyers at the law firm of Bridges & Mavrakakis that are currently working for Apple have actually represented Samsung in a past suit, which Samsung believes "taints all attorneys at Bridges & Mavrakakis through imputation." Samsung is concerned that those lawyers could end up using the information given to them in the past against Samsung in its suit against Apple.

Speaking of Apple lawyers, the Cupertino firm will soon be losing its chief patent counsel, according to a report from Reuters. Richard "Chip" Lutton Junior is said to be leaving Apple soon, although it's not yet clear why he's decided to make his exit. Unsurprisingly, Apple's already got someone ready to take Lutton's place. BJ Watrous, formerly a deputy general counsel at HP, has updated his LinkedIn profile to show that he is Apple's new lead patent counsel.

Whew. That's a lot of info to digest, and it certainly looks like Apple's legal team has some busy times ahead of them. Not only is the company involved in battles with HTC and Samsung, but it's also still involved in a legal tiff with Amazon over its use of the term "Appstore." I hope those Apple lawyers have a big pot of coffee ready, because they're going to need it.

Via AFP, FOSS Patents, Reuters