Apple recently filed a case against HTC to the International Trade Commission (ITC) for allegedly infringing on 20 of its patents. This action that was made by Apple was suspected to be an assault on Google. According to Jonathan Schwartz, Sun Microsystem’s past CEO, Steven Jobs threatened to sue him, too, some time ago. “Having watched this movie play out many times, suing a competitor typically makes them more relevant, not less. Developers I know aren’t getting less interested in Google’s Android platform, they’re getting more interested–Apple’s actions are enhancing that interest,” he said.

Apple has filed a grievance with the International Trade Commission (ITC) and the U.S. District Court in Delaware alleging that HTC Corp has infringed on Apple’s iPhone patents that involve both hardware and user interfaces. “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 Apple CEO Steve Jobs. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.” Apple believes HTC has infringed on 20 total patents.

HTC announced the HD mini, a Windows Phone device with HTC’s popular Sense user interface. The HD mini sports a 3.2-inch capacitive touch screen display with an HVGA resolution and multitouch support with a Ferrari yellow interior. The phone is powered by a 600MHz processor, and it runs Windows Mobile 6.5.3. The device will also offer a mobile hotspot feature for using the phone as a WiFi hotspot for your other electronics. The HD mini will be available from corner to corner of Europe and Asia by the start of April 2010.

HTC unveils the HTC Desire. The device is a smartphone that runs on Android 2.1 and 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor that’s Flash 10.1 ready. The Desire is like the HTC Hero and Nexus One with HTC Sense. It features a new optical joystick for navigating menus, a large 3.7-inch WVGA touchscreen display with multitouch support, and HTC’s brand new version of its popular Sense user interface. The Desire will be available to customers across Europe and in Asian markets in early Q2. In Australia, the device will be sold exclusively through Telstra.

HTC HD2, a Windows Mobile 6.5-powered touchscreen smartphone, is now available from Vodafone. The device includes an impressive 4.3-inch multi-touch capable capacitive touchscreen(INFO) display. It also boasts of its HTC Sense UI from Android to the new Windows platform. The HD2 includes 3G and WiFi data connectivity, a 5.0 megapixel camera, and GPS functionality.

The HTC HD2 is available now for free from Vodafone after a two-year customer agreement and a monthly plan of 35 GBP (US$58) or more.