Apple has filed a lawsuit against HTC for infringement of its patents even as the company is already fighting a case against Nokia and it is also being sued by Kodak, all relating to the patent issues.

HTC is one of the primary manufacturers of smartphones that run on Google Android. Android is increasing becoming popular in phones. If Apple wins the case it could hinder the devices which run on Android.

Apple has filed the lawsuit against HTC at a time when Google Android is being incorporated into many HTC devices as it becomes a favored operating system among many makers in the US market.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs wrote: "We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it."

Apple iPhone has 63.7 percent of the mobile Web consumption in North America in February however other companies like RIM and Android and increasing their margins while Apple continues to see a decline in share. Analysts expect Google to take a larger share in the market.

Apple has filed the lawsuit in U. S. District Court in Delaware and the U. S. International Trade Commission. If the case succeeds against HTC and other manufacturers, then it could slow the market adoption of Android in the short term.

Apple filed the lawsuit on March 2 in which it alleged that HTC violated 20 patents belonging to the company. Jobs said that the competitors should not steal their technology and make their own. HTC has launched many smartphones running on Google Android in the January's Mobile World Congress.

Apple is engaged in many lawsuits relating to patents. It is fighting legal battle since October 2009 with Nokia over intellectual property. Additionally, it is also fighting a case against Kodak which sued both Apple and RIM for illegally using its patent for previewing images with their built-in camera modules.

Analysts say that lawsuits are common in the marketplace and they are usually prolonged. The lawsuit between Apple and Nokia is because the two companies could not agree on terms of licensing and resorted to public litigation.