Paul Marks, senior technology correspondent
When engineers at CERN invented the touchscreen, they chose not to patent it. Yet Apple, Microsoft and Nokia are among the slew of tech firms who have chosen to patent aspects of the way software responds when humans touch or interact with touchscreens. But if Apple's recent experiences are any kind of harbinger, it looks like a strategy that's beginning to backfire.
This week the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a notice that it is likely to invalidate an important Apple patent - meaning that two of the three that led to the company winning a cool $1 billion in damages from Samsung of South Korea would be kaput. That would lend significant ammunition to Samsung in its ongoing appeal against the massive fine.
A USPTO notice in October had already revoked Apple's patent covering "rubber-banding", the onscreen bounce-back effect that iOS touchscreens display when a page is scrolled beyond its edge. And this week it has done likewise with the patent that covered the sensing of simultaneous touches that allow for touch-typing and pinch-to-zoom functionality.
It is not known who asked for the re-examination of
the patents, but it seems previous inventions have been dug up that
negate many of Apple's claims to novelty. Neither of the USPTO's
invalidation decisions are yet binding - Apple can appeal - but the
company needs to act quickly and convincingly if it's to keep these
patents in force.
At the Free and Open Source Patents
blog, analyst Florian Mueller points out that the evidence negating the
important claim in that latest multitouch patent is a double whammy -
suggesting it is not inventive, and also obvious.
Other
Apple patents are also falling under the microscope of the USPTO, where
red faces must abound amongst the examiners who granted them. The
agency has been criticised over and again for not checking "prior
invention" beyond what it finds in the patent databases - not checking
relevant engineering journals, product catalogues and gadget magazines, for example.
The moves at the USPTO come as
the worm turns against the patent land-grab elsewhere. The pressure group
that claims to guard everybody's digital lifestyle, the Electronic Frontier Foundation,
has just gained $500,000 in funding to take on what it calls "stupid"
software patents that crush innovation. Entrepreneur and inventor Mark
Cuban and the Minecraft game developer Markus Persson have each stumped
up half the cash to allow EFF attorneys to press for reform of the
patent courts and bust innovation-blocking patents.
Apple's patents under fire at US patent office
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Apple's patents under fire at US patent office
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Apple's patents under fire at US patent office
