HTC announced today that it is suing Apple. The company says it took legal action against Apple, filing a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) to halt the importation and sale of the iPhone, iPad and iPod in the United States. HTC’s complaint outlines five patents it claims are infringed upon by Apple products.

"As the innovator of the original Windows Mobile PocketPC Phone Edition in 2002 and the first Android smartphone in 2008, HTC believes the industry should be driven by healthy competition and innovation that offer consumers the best, most accessible mobile experiences possible," says Jason Mackenzie, vice president of North America, HTC Corporation. "We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly our customers that use HTC phones."

The company’s statement goes on to say:

HTC’s commitment to innovation has continued for more than a decade as it has focused on building a portfolio of the world’s most advanced smartphones that are inspired by consumers and provide them with a variety of choices in software, design, form-factor, price and wireless carrier.  Today, consumers in the United States can choose between 12 HTC smartphones with the national wireless carriers. HTC has continuously strived to bring innovative smartphone choices to consumers, like the recently unveiled HTC EVO 4G with Sprint, DROID Incredible by HTC with Verizon Wireless and the HTC HD2 with T-Mobile.

Yesterday HTC uploaded the following video showcasing its timeline of smarthphone manufacturing dating back to 1997:

Apple was already suing HTC over 20 patents related to the iPhone, so it will be very interesting to see how this all unfolds.

HTC of course makes a number of devices that run Google’s Android operating system, and Jason Kincaid notes that Google has vowed to "stand behind" its partners.

While Google isn’t directly involved in the legal battles between HTC and Apple, it is obviously very invested in the outcomes. Yet another layer to the Apple/Google competition story is added.