HTC Delays Evo 4G LTE Launch as U.S. Customs Investigates Shipments for Breach of Apple Patent

htc logoLast December, Apple won a U.S. International Trade Commission case against HTC, with the agency ruling that several of HTC's handsets infringed upon a pair of Apple-held patents. The agency's ruling included a ban on the import of infringing devices beginning in April, although HTC quickly responded to say that it had already designed a workaround for the issue in question.

But as reported by The Verge late yesterday, U.S. Customs officials have delayed shipments of HTC's new One X and Evo 4G LTE handsets into the United States as it investigates whether those handsets also infringe upon Apple's patents.

We've learned today that the One X and Evo 4G LTE are indefinitely delayed at Customs as the agency investigates patent issues with Apple, and sources have further confirmed that some shipments are indeed being held back. The One X is also currently out of stock at AT&T's online store and at most AT&T retail stores we've called — and few had any information on when more units would arrive.

HTC issued a follow-up statement confirming the customs hold and indicating that it is working to secure the release of the shipments.

The US availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed due to a standard U.S. Customs review of shipments that is required after an ITC exclusion order. We believe we are in compliance with the ruling and HTC is working closely with Customs to secure approval. The HTC One X and HTC Evo 4G LTE have been received enthusiastically by customers and we appreciate their patience as we work to get these products into their hands as soon as possible.

Dow Jones Newswires provides more information today, noting that HTC will need to delay the launch of the Evo 4G LTE, which had been scheduled to debut on Sprint this Friday, May 18. In addition, AT&T is experiencing shortages of the One X due to the customs hold, although some units were able to enter the country before the import ban went into effect on April 19.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
ios 26 1 slide to stop

iOS 26.1 Brings Back 2007 Feature in New Way

Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important. Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped. The new ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
M5 MacBook Pro

Waiting for New Macs? Apple Just Shared Bad News

Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year. Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
Coffee Burgundy and Purple iPhone 18 Pro Mock 1

Leaker Outlines Potential New Colors for iPhone 18 Pro

Friday October 31, 2025 8:28 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models could be available in new rich and warm color option, according to a known leaker. The Weibo user known as "Instant Digital" today suggested that next-year's iPhone 18 Pro models will be available in at least one of the following color options: Coffee, purple, and burgundy. The iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Pro were all available in ...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...

Top Rated Comments

ChrisTX Avatar
176 months ago
The famous words spoken by Steve Jobs "and boy have we patented it" referring to the original iPhone back in 2007 have all but been forgotten by everyone in this industry.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Winni Avatar
176 months ago
While it may seem like that, and Apple remains the biggest company in the world you still need to respect their patents.

The patents in this case are as trivial as it gets. They should not have been granted in the first place.

I have a background in software development, technical writing and networking, so I actually am a person that should feel protected by IP laws. But I live and work in the real world, and all I can say is that it is my firm belief that the entire patent and copyright system is a perversion that is only there for the benefit of large corporations and especially software patents should be abolished yesterday.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KnightWRX Avatar
176 months ago
Advertisements? Have you ever even used one?

Copy everything? HTC has came up with so many original hardware designs over the past several years. I believe they were the first with a unibody phone with the Legend. They are also known to have tried different hinges for their hard keyboard phones. They are all about innovation.

Their HTC Sense UI especially seems to be quite appreciated by the industry.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AP_piano295 Avatar
176 months ago
I don't see how it's inaccurate. Maybe instead of being snarky you can contribute to the conversation.

A better analogy would be:

Apple builds a house and moves in.

HTC builds a house next-door which is different in almost every way. Except they used some very similar tiles in the downstairs bathroom.

So instead of accepting that there really isn't that much difference between any set of blue tiles. Apple tells its lawyers to sue HTC and keep them from moving into their house until they pull up the tiles in the bathroom and replace them with tiles that Apple thinks are different enough.

This is a much better analogy of what is actually going on here.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aerok Avatar
176 months ago
HTC's slogan, "Quietly Brilliant", is very false. They spam us with advertisements and copy everything (not just from Apple).

Advertisements? Have you ever even used one?

Copy everything? HTC has came up with so many original hardware designs over the past several years. I believe they were the first with a unibody phone with the Legend. They are also known to have tried different hinges for their hard keyboard phones. They are all about innovation.


The moron who spilled her coffee was able to sue McDonalds and get money easily. A small company with a good reason could beat a large company in a lawsuit.

Read about the case, it is not as moronic as you think it is.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KnightWRX Avatar
176 months ago
Wonder what the people cheering for this news will say if the iPhone gets held up at customs following an ITC ruling against Apple :

http://www.slashgear.com/itc-finds-apple-violates-one-motorola-patent-24224485/

Apple was found to infringe a Motorola patent by the ITC on the 24th of April and a ban could be issued for iPads and iPhones.

Will VirtualBall and others claiming "you need to respect Apple's patents" do the same against Apple and for Motorola ?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)