Does anyone have any spare pocket change? You know, about $100 million? It appears that Apple spent about that much in their legal battle with HTC over their first round of patent disputes. Yes, you read that correctly: $100 million on the first round alone. This staggering amount does not include the 30 plus lawsuits with Samsung. (Can’t wait to see that bill) Despite the amount of money that Apple is spending, Dan Lyons, on his personal blog, claims that “a rumor going around among the lawyers” is that Apple has received very little in return for the amount that they have spent on all of their lawsuits. Despite Dan’s claim, it appears that the tide is turning in Apple’s favor as they did score a victory last month when the International Trade Commission banned the import of several HTC smartphones and also last week when a German Court found in favor of Apple in regards to the 3G/UMTS patent lawsuit. At the end of the day, it is very doubtful that any of these lawsuits will ever be tried to a jury. In all likelihood, everyone will settle after they get tired of paying their lawyers millions of dollars. With a reported $81 billion in the bank, yes, $100 million probably is just pocket change to Apple.
