Apple has been awarded a new patent that could spell trouble for almost all of its smartphone competitors.
[ad#Google Adsense 300×250 in story]The patent awarded to Apple gives it control over the popular multitouch display that’s become popular on smartphones over the last several years. While Apple popularized the concept of using gestures and touching the screen to interact with the phone, many companies have copied the interface since the introduction of the iPhone, according to PCMag.com.
The abstract of the patent awarded to Apple says it covers a “computer-implemented method, for use in conjunction with a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display, [that] comprises displaying a portion of page content, including a frame displaying a portion of frame content and also including other content of the page, on the touch screen display.”
“This patent covers a kind of functionality without which it will be hard to build a competitive smartphone,” said Florian Mueller from Foss Patents.
An unnamed source speaking with PCMag says the patent could be problematic for companies like HTC, Samsung, Motorola, Research in Motion and Nokia, among others that make phones that Apple could target.
“This patent covers smartphones that allow a user to manipulate the display of a Web page with finger gestures using different fingers and/or combinations of fingers, so it appears broad enough to cover all modern touchscreen smartphones because they all allow you to use one finger to move the Web page left or right, and a combination of two fingers to zoom in and zoom out of the Web page,” the source said.
bad news for android phones
My first thought:
“Uhm, hey Nokia, those 850 Mio. $, we’d like the have those back.”
Too many people are getting their panties in a knot over the patent that Apple owns.
People who think this means that Apple owns the right to all capacitive touch screens, can stop holding their breath.
The patent covers a user interface (UI) and specific multi-touch gestures that Apple innovated. This does NOT mean that ALL UI’s and gestures are covered by this patent.
However… it’s quite obvious that software and hardware manufacturers have “borrowed” some of Apple’s original patented IP. In those cases (for example Samsung’s blatant copying of the iPhone’s UI and hardware design) Apple has every right to take legal action against offenders.
Think of the royalties Apple will be collecting and Exxon’s value nowhere come close.
Q: So does that mean we will have to start calling Apple a patent troll?
A: No. Apple is actually creating products and protecting their innovations. They aren’t just sitting on the patents and collecting from people who do create products.
It’ll be interesting to see how broadly this patent gets interpreted.
Issueing patents for gestures is actually quite stupid, sorry to say. About as stupid as issueing a patent for a one-click-checkout. But that was 10 years or so agi. Lucky thing I live in Europe where we don’t have to fear such kind of innovation-crippling patents.