Apple Wins Ban of HTC Android Devices ⇥

The patent issued in 1999 and, in general terms, covers a device that scans computer text for data, like a phone number, and turns that number into a link that the user can then select to perform an act, like calling the number.

This is a win for Apple, but a loss for consumers. Apple will probably license this patent (like they attempted to do with Samsung), but it’s unfortunate that this is a patent in the first place.