HTC is facing a possible important ban in the United States, following a preliminary victory in the country's courts for Finnish giant Nokia.

The International Trade Commission ruled that several HTC devices have infringed on two radio patents held by Nokia that help improve transmission and reception for calls.

As a result, HTC might be slapped with an import ban if it can't alter the chipset of its Android smartphones - including its flagship HTC One - to boost signal without infringing on Nokia's patents.

From bad to worse

HTC is reportedly working with Qualcomm (which provides the chipsets for the One) on a workaround that's compliant with the ITC's ruling and it has until January to come up with a workaround if it hopes to avoid the import ban.

For Taiwan-based HTC, the ITC ruling is part of a cavalcade of bad news that includes layoffs in the US, a wholesale withdrawal from the tablet market, and shrinking smartphone sales.

HTC stock dropped by 6 percent (10 Taiwan Dollars) following the announcement of the ITC ruling, although it's starting to recover after the initial downturn.

[source: Wall Street Journal]