Apple on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against rival handset maker HTC over the alleged infringement of 20 patents related to the iPhone's user interface, underlying architecture and hardware [updated with specific patents].

The suit was officially filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission and in a U.S. District Court in Delaware. Apple announced the lawsuit in a press release.

"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 Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. "We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours."

Update: Revealed in the lawsuit are the patents in question. They are entitled:

While HTC primarily makes handsets running Windows Mobile, the company has also made a number of high-profile phones based on the Google Android mobile operating system. In addition to the first Android phone, the G1, HTC was also behind the recently released Nexus One, which features multi-touch technology.

The lawsuit is yet another filed with the ITC with Apple's name featured prominently on it. In recent months the iPhone maker has sued Nokia, and is also being sued by the Finnish handset maker. The ITC has agreed to look into both companies' complaints of patent infringement.