Apple has suffered a defeat in one of its legal battles after a judge in the UK ruled that HTC is not infringing on Apple patents.

In a decision handed down today, Judge Christopher Floyd said that HTC does not violate four Apple patents the iPhone maker argued that the Asian smartphone and tablet manufacturer is infringing with its devices.

Furthermore, the judge ruled three out of the four patents are invalid including a patent that relates to the slide-to-unlock feature.

The two other patents the judged ruled invalid are patents covering ways to change the alphabet of a device’s keyboard and a patent for technology that allows two points to be touched simultaneously on the screen of a device.

The only patent upheld by the court is a photo management patent Apple holds, Bloomberg reports.

In a statement to the publication, Apple said that “Competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

Meanwhile, HTC welcomed the ruling although it lamented that “Apple continues to favor competition in the courtroom over competition in the marketplace.”

Apple is also using the same four patents against HTC in a case in Germany which is due to go on trial later this year.

Image from ubiqua on Flickr (CC)

About Solon Harmony Dolor

A passion for technology and journalism makes this upcoming writer very interested in social media and technology news. Fresh from finishing an English and Journalism degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman, he aims to bring interesting news to our readers .