SAN FRANCISCO — HTC Corp.’s brawl with patent powerhouse Niro, Haller & Niro over the firm’s alleged role in inequitable conduct before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office shows no signs of abating.
New filings show the Niro firm was in telephone contact with inventor Daniel Henderson on the same day in 2007 that Henderson and his patent prosecutor submitted a false declaration to the PTO. The phone records are further evidence, HTC’s lawyers at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton contend, that Niro lawyers were in the loop on the fraud, which has already led to the suspension of the patent prosecutor and the nullification of patents that generated tens of millions in licensing revenue.
