HTC One X Now Entering the Country

HTC One X Embargo Lifted, but why was it ever in place?

Good news for HTC: the embargo placed on its One X and Evo 4G LTE has been lifted. Originally the shipments of the devices were seized by customs earlier this month because of an ITC ruling that said HTC had violated an Apple patent. But very little information was shared about what was going on.

Now, apparently, the ITC has reversed its ruling, the two phones have passed a lengthy check, and they are on their way into the country.

Said HTC:

"HTC has completed the review process with U.S. Customs and HTC devices have been released, as they are in compliance with the ITC's ruling. Future shipments should continue to enter the U.S. and we are confident that we will soon be able to meet the demand for our products."

But that raises a troubling question: why in the world were the phones embargoed in the first place? If there wasn't any violation, and unlike Samsung no one was even talking about the possibility of infringement before the embargo, what was the reason?

The ITC embargo had to do with an Apple patent for transferring data between applications, for example moving data from your calender to your dialer. The ITC gave HTC until April to fix this problem, and HTC did.

but apparently the ITC still felt it necessary to seize every box of HTC One X and Evo 4G LTE phones to check that, yes, the infringing feature was gone.

This might be more understandable if Samsung had been getting the same treatment. After all, it is Samsung and Apple that are embroiled in a massive patent war all over the world, and Samsung that blatantly copies Apple hardware. But Samsung shipments haven't been seized. And the ITC didn't need to check every box to be sure that HTC wan't secretly trying to sneak in the banned feature.

CNET Photo by : HTC