Call me simple simon, but does the timing of these events not seem odd to anyone else? So the ALJ Carl Charneski, who presided over the Apple vs Nokia (who settled) and HTC case, resigns on or about July 20 – knowing that HTC was going to
file an appeal before the ITC commissioners, who were scheduled to make the final decision on August 5, suddenly announced his departure.

Judge Luckern who had been directed to reconsider the initial determination in the Kodak Vs Apple, RIM case, as the full ITC panel rejected parts of his decision on appeal - was expected to give a further decision as soon as Aug. 30. However, he too then announced his same day retirement on August 3, knowing there was also a pending decision from the CAFC regarding his determination in the IDCC vs Nokia case?

Have I got these facts correct?

JULY 15, 2011

ITC Judge finds HTC infringed 2 Apple patents; Should we panic?
July 15th, 2011 by Robert Nazarian
(Segment)

There is a big time cloud of fear hovering in Android world tonight as administrative law judge (ALJ) Carl Charneski determined that HTC infringed two Apple patents. This means that it is possible that Apple could put an import ban on some of HTC’s devices or enter into a licensing deal. Although the latter is better for Android, it would still not be a good situation because it would cause problems for other OEMs like Motorola and Samsung, not to mention the high costs.

Should we panic just yet? Today’s decision is an “initial determination� which will eventually be reviewed by a six-member Commission, the highest decision-making body by the International Trade Commission (ITC). This initial determination was originally scheduled for August 5th, but for whatever reason they moved it up. The target date for the final decision is scheduled for December 6, 2011 which could also be moved up.

Three months ago, the ITC staff’s opinion was that HTC did not infringe on any Apple patents, but somehow the ALJ had a different perspective on 2 of the 10 patents:
http://www.talkandroid.com/46825-itc-judge-finds-htc-infringed-2-apple-patents-should-we-panic/

JULY 16, 2011

ITC ruling against HTC may spell trouble for other Android makers
Saturday, July 16, 2011
By Josh Ong
(segment)
An examination of the two patents the U.S. International Trade Commission found handset maker HTC infringed upon in an initial ruling on Friday has revealed that the patent claims in question may apply to "every Android device out there."

Apple won a skirmish on Friday in its ongoing dispute against HTC when a judge for the ITC ruled that the Taiwanese company had infringed upon two patents.

"HTC will vigorously defend these two remaining patents through an appeal before the ITC commissioners who make the final decision," Grace Lei, general counsel for HTC, was reported as saying. "This is only one step of many in these legal proceedings."
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/07/16/itc_ruling_against_htc_may_spell_trouble_for_other_android_makers.html

JULY 16, 2011

AppleInsider | ITC ruling against HTC may spell trouble for other ...
(segment)
According to Android's own developer reference site, which is cited in the documents, Linkify takes "a piece of text and a regular expression and turns all of the regex matches in the text into clickable links."

Given that, according to Mueller, the feature is "most probably built into each and every Android device out there," a final ITC ruling upholding Friday's ruling would pose a serious threat to all U.S. Android vendors.

Apple's '263 patent describes "the use of real-time application programming interfaces (APIs) interposed between application software or driver software and the real-time processing subsystem."

In spite of HTC's claims that it has "alternate solutions" for the issues, Mueller believes the signal-processing patent will be "extremely hard" to work around. "In Android's case, it's possible that working around this patent requires a fundamental change to Android's architecture, and possibly even to the architecture of the underlying Linux kernel," he wrote.

In fact, prominent Android smartphone and tablet maker Motorola Wireless seems to have recognized the danger of these patents, as the company preemptively sought to have them invalidated last October after filing suit against the iPhone maker. Apple subsequently added the patents to a countersuit against Motorola.

AppleInsider uncovered job listings on Friday that indicate Apple is shopping for lawyers for litigation team in preparation for the coming intellectual property showdown between Apple and its rivals, namely HTC, Motorola and Samsung.

Two of Android's fastest growing licensees in China, Huawei and ZTE, have reportedly begun evaluating the use of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7, suggesting that at least some makers see Microsoft's product as safer than Android. HTC could also see its Android business cannibalized by smaller firms hoping to fly under the radar, and unnoticed by Apple's legal efforts to protect its intellectual property.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/07/26/itc_rules_mac_os_x_violates_s3_patents_iphone_and_ipad_do_not.html

JULY 18, 2011

Judge Rules: HTC Infringed On 2 Of Apple’s Patents
Posted by neha in Mobile

The patent battle between HTC and Apple that had been so silent for so long has really heated up in the past few weeks. Apple filed yet a further ITC complaint against HTC just last week, and this week a judge has ruled that two of the ten proposed patents Apple presented in its case were infringed upon by HTC.

Despite HTC’s dismay over the complaint, share prices started falling after Apple filed its second complaint on July 8, spurring a 15 percent decrease. Share prices fell 4.1 percent after the infringement ruling this weekend. But HTC hasn’t thrown in the towel. The company plans to stage a share buy back for September to bring what Macquarie Group analyst Daniel Chang calls “near-term help.� In the mean time, HTC has an appeal plotted for July 16.

If you’re unfamiliar with the ITC import ban process (which you likely should be), it goes a small something like this: Administrative Law Judge Carl Charneski chose on July 15 that HTC was in violation of certain Apple patents. From there, Charneski’s ruling goes before the Global Trade Commission’s six-person board in Washington, where HTC will launch an appeal. At that point, it’s in the hands of the commission, which could choose to ban U.S. imports of some HTC phones in succession the Android OS.
http://www.webinfoshare.com/tag/administrative-law-judge-carl-charneski/

JUL. 16 -21, 2011 ? – ITC ALJ Carl Charneski retires

JULY 21, 2016
InterDigital Files Complaint Against Nokia, Huawei and ZTE With International Trade Commission

Aug. 03, 2011
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=65939822

Lawyers Pay Tribute to ITC's Judge Luckern

Luckern's retirement comes on the heels of the departure of ALJ Carl Charneski, who joined Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione in Washington on July 21. This leaves the ITC with just four judges at a time when it's busier than ever before.

The number of 337 complaints filed in the first six months of 2011 was well above the pace set in 2010 -- which itself broke previous caseload records.

The ITC says it is actively seeking to fill the vacancies. Charles Bullock will serve as acting chief administrative law judge.

http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2011/08/lawyers-pay-tribute-to-itcs-judge-luckern.html