Taiwanese phone maker HTC has sued Chinese firms Meizu and Gionee over patent infringement.
The patent in question was of a concept mobile device that uses a metallic chassis and a special antenna structure that aims to minimize radiation signals caused by shielding of the metal casing.
HTC has been using phone casings entirely made out of metal ever since the HTC One M7. They have sued Gionee over the Gionee M6, a phone which uses a full-metal design and the same antenna structure as HTC.
As for Meizu, the device involved is the Meizu M5 Note, which is a mid-range device with a full metal design as well.
The Beijing Court of Intellectual Property came to the conclusion that the two defendant companies (Meizu and Gionee) did, in fact, infringe the patent in question. The court demanded the defendants to compensate HTC for economic losses.
HTC demanded damages worth of 30 million Yuan from Meizu and 24 million from Gionee. However, the court also concluded that some of the data provided by HTC was extrapolated and lacked sufficient evidence. Hence, the court decided in light of the statutory compensation ceiling that Meizu provides 3 million Yuan and Gionee pays 2.6 million in damages.
