Those patents are so broad
These patents basically cover "swiping from point A to point B", so if they were upheld only every iPhone but also every Android phone up until now and in the future until the patents expire would be in violation...
Apple has been pulled back into a patent-infringement lawsuit in the US over its touchscreen iPhones – after an appeals court overturned a previous ruling, and complained about its sloppy analysis. The appeals court, covering northern California, took the unusual step of slapping down [PDF] one of its own – District Judge Jon …
"These patents basically cover "swiping from point A to point B", so if they were upheld only every iPhone but also every Android phone up until now and in the future until the patents expire would be in violation..."
Umm, exactly what do you think the Apple's "slide to unlock" pattent basically covers...?
I quite clearly loathe patent trolls and their parasitic mode of existence. On the other hand I equally despise Apple's* bullying / lobbying techniques à la "we have teh monnies, obey or else".
I'm thus quite torn. But I think I can identify the culprit here. I'll keep it as an exercise for the reader.
On a perhaps-related note, didn't someone mention at some point that the US patent system was long overdue for a major revamp?
Am I the only one to remember Apple wanting (and of course getting) big money from their competitors for "slide to unlock"?
Let's just make it clear: Which patent office in the world, that issues such a patent (to whomever!) if the capacitive touch screen, the mouse pointer and the way humans work is already known, would actually need a "method and apparatus to make medical diagnosis easier". And of course: "On a computer" or "On a smartphone"