Apple Inc. sued HTC Corp., which makes several Google Inc.-based smart phones, saying the cellphone maker is infringing on 20 patents related to its popular iPhone.

Taiwan's HTC has built up its brand in the recent years thanks to its early support of Google's Android operating system. It was the first company to sell an Android phone and more recently built Google's Nexus One phone, which the Internet giant is selling directly to consumers.

Apple filed complaints with both with the U.S. International Trade Commission and in federal court in Delaware. The suits seek a ban on U.S. imports, sales or use of the targeted HTC phones, as well as unspecified compensation for damages.

The company's ITC complaint claims several of HTC's devices, including the Nexus One, as well as phones running Windows Mobile infringe on its patents. The company said the patents involve the iPhone's touch-screen user interface, underlying architecture and hardware.

The Supreme Court appeared willing Tuesday to say that the Constitution's right to possess guns limits state and local regulation of firearms. But the justices also suggested that some gun control measures might not be affected.

The court heard arguments in a case that challenges handgun bans in the Chicago area by asking the high court to extend to state and local jurisdictions the sweep of its 2008 decision striking down a gun ban in the federal enclave of Washington, D.C.

The biggest questions before the court seemed to be how, rather than whether, to issue such a ruling and whether some regulation of firearms could survive. On the latter point, Justice Antonin Scalia said the majority opinion he wrote in the 2008 case "said as much."

The extent of gun rights are "still going to be subject to the political process," said Chief Justice John Roberts, who was in the majority in 2008.

At the very least, Tuesday's argument suggested that courts could be very busy in the years ahead determining precisely which gun laws are allowed under the Second Amendment's "right to keep and bear arms," and which must be stricken.

James Feldman, a Washington-based lawyer representing Chicago, urged the court to reject the challenges to the gun laws in Chicago and its suburb of Oak Park, Ill. Handguns have been banned in those two places for nearly 30 years.

The court has held that most of the rest of the Bill of Rights applies to state and local laws. But Feldman said the Second Amendment should be treated differently because guns are different. "Firearms are designed to injure and kill," he said.

Over the past year, both sides have courted the support of Washington's black community, a majority of the city's 600,000 residents and one traditionally perceived as opposed to same-sex marriage.

"In D.C., outreach to African-Americans wasn't part of the campaign. It was the campaign," said Michael Crawford, the leader of a pro-same-sex union group, D.C. For Marriage.

Crawford, who is black, said other residents weren't ignored, but his group and others weighed the city's racial makeup in planning their message. That made the debate here different than in other places that have considered gay marriage — places like California, where about 7 percent of residents are black, or Maine, where 1 percent are. Voters in both states struck down gay marriage laws.

In Washington, gay couples are expected to be able to apply for marriage licenses beginning Wednesday — but opponents are still challenging it in court.

St. Louis attorneys John Carey, Joseph Danis and Jeffrey Lowe said Monday they formed Carey, Danis & Lowe law firm.

Carey, 48, and Danis, 40, were already practicing together as Carey & Danis LLC, which focused on pharmaceutical liability, mass torts and class actions, recovering more than $800 million for its clients.

The Lowe Law Firm focused its practice on personal injury cases and has won some of the largest jury verdicts in Missouri, obtaining settlements and judgments of more than $150 million. Lowe, 53, obtained a $105 million verdict against Bridgestone/Firestone in 2000 on behalf of Randy Dorman for injuries he suffered when a tire rim assembly exploded.

The new firm will handle pharmaceutical liability, product liability, personal injury, medical malpractice, class actions, and economic loss cases throughout the United States.

The Supreme Court is allowing a lawsuit to proceed against Hustler Magazine over decades-old nude photographs of a woman that were published after she was killed by her husband, wrestler Chris Benoit.

The court turned down Hustler's appeal Monday. Benoit killed his wife, Nancy, and their son before committing suicide in 2007.

Hustler published 20-year-old nude photographs of Nancy Benoit after the deaths gained international attention.

Her family filed a federal lawsuit against the Larry Flynt Publishing Group, Hustler's publisher, claiming that the woman, a model and former professional wrestler herself, had asked the photographer to destroy the images immediately after they were shot.

Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling is asking the Supreme Court to throw out his convictions in connection with the collapse of the energy giant that cost thousands of jobs and billions of dollars.

Lawyers for Skilling and the government are appearing before the high court Monday as he appeals his 2006 convictions on 19 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors.

Skilling argues he did not have a fair trial in Houston, Enron's hometown, amid anger over Enron's implosion in 2001. He also is contesting his conviction under the federal fraud law making it a crime to deprive shareholders or the public of "the intangible right to honest services."

Critics say the law is vague and unfair.