Too bad for HTC, as its Android phones lost the initial patent ruling against Apple running since March 2010. The trial was held last Friday by ITC administrative law judge Carl Charneski, and while the decision is yet to be conclusive, it harbingers a veto for HTC to sell Android phones in the US. It’s a major blow for HTC considering that it’s the largest Android phone maker, and the most active Android developer next to Google. The company also lost shares after Apple won the case.

The two patent infringements are seen in only some of Android’s functions. The first is covered under Apple’s patent number 5,946,647 filed back in ‘96, which encompasses “system and method for performing an action on a structure in computer-generated data.” The other is under patent number 6,343,263 filed in ’94, which covers “real-time signal processing system for serially transmitted data.”

HTC was originally accused of violating 10 Apple patents but the Taiwanese manufacturer managed to settle the score with patent infringement allegations a few months later. Nevertheless, the legal battle is far from over. The Taiwanese company said they will appeal the ITC judge’s preliminary resolve and ensure that they will continue to manufacture Android phones while evading patent violations.

“We are highly confident we have a strong case for the ITC appeals process and are fully prepared to defend ourselves using all means possible,” HTC’s general counsel Grace Lei said in a statement.

“We strongly believe we have alternate solutions in place for the issues raised by Apple. We look forward to resolving this case, so we can continue creating the most innovative mobile experiences for consumers.”

It looks like HTC is not the only Android manufacturer bugged by the ‘647 and ‘263 patents. Even Motorola appealed to ITC to invalidate the two patents, along with 10 others. And it’s not just Android device manufacturers; Google itself is being sued as well, this time by Oracle over several Java patent infringements for billions of dollars in infringement and royalty demands. Oracle even went as far as asking for the deposition of several Google executives, including CEO Larry Page, to stand in the case.

Even though Android has been taking hits from different directions, the show must go on. Sony unveils two new unique Android tablets, S1 and S2. S1 has a folded-looking top for owners to get a feel of a magazine folded back, while S2 can actually be folded to a size of a PSP so users can handily put it inside their pockets, and overall resembling the look of a sunglasses case. LG also unveiled their new Gingerbread-powered devices, the Optimus Pro and the LG Optimus Net. The first device sports a QWERTY candybar keyboard, while the second one is a touch screen.

Apart from Android, Samsung unveils the new Series 5 Chromebook which runs Chrome OS. The new Chromebook has gotten its fair share of pros and cons. On the upbeat, Chromebooks have impressive Wi-Fi and 3G compatibility, streamlined operating system, stronger security and a 20-second boot/shutdown capability. On the other hand, it’s only a fit as a secondary computer for users and can’t really do anything with it offline.