“In its lawsuits against the three leading Android device makers, Apple asserts a variety of patents ranging from mid-1990s Macintosh patents (such as the two HTC was found, on a preliminary basis, to infringe) to more recent technologies,” Florian Mueller reports. “Apple’s number one priority clearly is to ensure that consumers will perceive the iPhone and iPad user experience as unique. That, in turn, means that Apple shoots for a substantial degradation of the Android user experience.”
“One patent stands out because Apple appears to be extremely convinced of its validity and enforceability,” Mueller reports. “U.S. Patent No. 7,469,381 on ‘list scrolling and document translation, scaling, and rotation on a touch-screen display.'”
Mueller reports, “I found two YouTube videos (out of presumably many) of demos of mobile devices that happen to show what list scrolling on a touch screen is like with and without the invention claimed by the ‘381 patent.”
Full article, with the videos, here.
I was using google’s DNS and found I couldn’t load this page. On a wtf I switched to my ISP’s dns and it loaded right away.
Maybe?
This kind of stuff seems really stupid to me. (Yes, I read the article.) About on a par with patenting a system for holding a hard-cover book by “cradling the spine of the book in the palm with the ball of the thumb on one side and the tips of the fingers on the other”. This system for cradling a book becomes self-evident, the moment one wants to read a book — one of a very small number of options for doing it comfortably, that present themselves immediately EVEN IF one has never held a book before. It’s not an “invention”, and neither are a huge number of these nit-picky nuances of operation of phones or computers.
The patent dosen’t cover your use of the screen. It covers the system and method of using that input to perform the actions.
Some people seem to think the results they see on screen are purely the result of their actions. In reality there is a complex system back there interpreting and reacting to you.
That is the beauty of an elegant patent. The application always seems obvious after the fact. But I agree with Seamus, the actual application that produces the desired result is what is patented. A method not the end result is patented , this is part of the reason that Google cant seem to grip that they are actually stealing when they fail to develop a different method to achieve the same result when not licensing the underlying patent.
The patent covers the look and feel of scrolling motions on the screen. It is not self evident in that when you remove your finger from the screen the text or frame under the screen does not stop moving immediately. The patent covers the fact that we expect to see some elasticity in screen movements in that our minds are programmed to think that the rolling motions will not come to a complete halt but will die down in slow increments like pulling on an elastic band. This is otherwise known as inertia and makes the scrolling movement seem more natural to the human eye. Samsung could have avoided infringement by not incorporating this feature on their phone but that will just add to the general clunkiness of Android.
Good point!
Remember how the “smart” phone functioned prior to Apple joining the fracas? Couldn’t stand to use them. Awkward, inept and plain misery.
I have a Samsung Gravity T phone and the scrolling totally sucks. Even when they copy Apple, they still can’t get it right.
How about severely limiting the duration for these patents? Maybe for every patent a case-specific duration should be specified, for which the rights ti the IP remain valid.
What innovatve companies like Apple need is sufficient lead time in which they can apply their new ideas and/or benefit from licensing fees.
Patents should last longer if you produce a product, shorter if you don’t .
Is it truly natural to hold a book that way? Is that what a baby does with a book the first time it ever sees one?
This is a funny version of Tech support from the early days of books:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRBIVRwvUeE&w=425&h=349%5D
It that truly the most natural way to hold a book? Is that the way a baby interacts with a book the first time they confront one?
This is a funny take on tech support for books:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRBIVRwvUeE&w=425&h=349%5D
Apple = patent troll. A multi-billion dollar one at that.
WTF, The only Troll I can see is you and a uneducated post of not understanding that you need to protect what you design or you will lose it.
You are a blind fool, give it up. And look at the definition of a Patent Troll, Apple is far form a company that dosnt innovate.
Another Google drone tring to stir up something from nothing.
Patent trolls, by definition, do not innovate – they simply collect patents and sue others as their only form of income. Lodsys is a troll. Apple uses their patented inventions to make products which actually sell to consumers. Apple is not a troll.
You can’t label someone a “patent troll” just because they’re using their patents in a way you don’t like.
I suggest you listen to last week’s episode of “This American Life.” It covered in depth the topic of patent trolls. You may learn something. Damn liberal media teaching us stuff about things.
You’re trying to be funny. Noted.
Also worth noting, Apple ships and keeps pushing out, lots and lots of products that use these patents. That means they’re not trolls, but just, a global producer of high tech consumer goods, with a ton of innovation and papers to back it up in court.
THERE is so so many more things SAMSUNG has copied… they did a good SKINNING job and made more iCANDY then APPLES iOS but nevertheless SAMSUNG with GOOGLE Android is a APPLE RIP OFF… even down to the SCREEN CAPTURING on the device. COME ON – CAN NOT THINK OF ANOTHER WAY?