Reputation Management Online

I have been following this Apple and HTC saga with great anguish. Back in March 2010, Apple Inc fired a lawsuit against HTC claiming that they infringed on its numerous patents. Now, last Monday HTC fired another salvo against Apple, complaining to the International Trade Commission to stop Apple from selling the iPod, iPhone and iPad.

HTC on the contrary has also accused Apple of stealing its patents about cellphone directory, power-management technology and hardware and software. As both the companies mudsling each other I get an idea that both have infringed on each others intellectual property.

From the business aspect, Apple’s attack on HTC was in some way to pull Google Inc, since HTC’s smart phone is based on the latter’s Android software, which gives them an edge over Apple’s iPhone. HTC’s counter action on other hand was on the expected lines.

Jason Mackenzie, HTC’s vice-president for North America, in a statement.

We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly, our customers that use HTC phones,

Now how strong HTC’s patent portfolio is something to be debated later, it’s not the phone specification that interest me but the way Apple loose their secret every time. They spend million dollars to come up with a product saying it’s unique, and then spend some more millions to keep the secret. Sadly the trade secret is all over the place. It’s like you want to keep the fire, but don’t want to feed the flame.

Reputation Management For.com feels that Apple or any company should protect their intellectual property or least get used to such situation. In the age of Internet and social media this is how it will be and won’t be getting any better.  But, every time raking up controversy generates negative influence, least you pump another hundred thousands to convince your consumers. We know where law suits end up, and finally you are back to mind your business, but this time post-mud slugging you may have to satisfy by losing a major chunk of your market share and Reputation.