Apple has sued mobile handset maker HTC for patents related to the popular Apple iPhone.  Apple said that HTC its rival smartphone maker has infringed on 20 patents.

The 20 patents that HTC allegedly infringed on include aspects related to the iPhone’s interface, user interaction and hardware.

“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

Currently Apple is also litigation by Nokia over the technology used in the iPhone.

One can clearly see that Apple’s problem is not really with that of HTC as hardware is only part of the patent infringements, I think Apple is trying to win this lawsuit against HTC to take on popular smartphone OS Google Android.

Is Apple feeling the heat from the popular Google Android smartphone OS? I for one think so and this may be their attempt to try and drive them out of the mobile market. If Apple will succeed, only time will tell.