Responding to a lawsuit brought against it by Apple in March, HTC on Wednesday said it filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple. Filed with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC), HTC said it wants to halt the importation and sale of the iPhone, iPad and iPod in the United States.

“We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly our customers that use HTC phones,” said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of North America, HTC.

In early March, Apple sued HTC for infringing on 20 of its patents. That lawsuit was filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and in U.S. District Court in Delaware.

“We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, in a statement at the time the lawsuit was filed. “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

Some thought the Apple lawsuit was a way to get at Google without actually suing them. Google proactively contacted the media and pledged its support for HTC when the lawsuit was announced.