Taiwan's leading smartphone maker HTC said on Thursday it was suing technology giant Apple in the United States, claiming it has infringed on its patents.

HTC said in a statement that the suit was filed in a district court in Florida but declined to elaborate as the case had entered formal litigation proceedings.

According to the Taipei-based Apple Daily newspaper, HTC claimed in the suit that Apple's MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and iPhone have infringed on two patents it acquired from Hewlett-Packard last year related to computer networks.

Such lawsuits are a regular occurrence among technology giants and Apple has accused HTC and other smartphone makers using Google's Android mobile operating system of infringing on its patents.

HTC this month hailed as a victory a British court ruling that it did not infringe on a patent owned by Apple while three other Apple patents were invalid.

Apple and South Korean giant Samsung are also engaged in a slew of patent suits against each other in international courts, with both companies vying for a bigger stake of the smartphone and tablet markets.

(Source: The Asian Age)