back to article Close, but no Tigar! Appeals court slaps judge, drags Apple back into touchscreen spat

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 …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    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...

    1. /\/\j17
      FAIL

      Re: 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..."

      Umm, exactly what do you think the Apple's "slide to unlock" pattent basically covers...?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Those patents are so broad

        Apple's patent for was a very specific function, not intended to cover every possible swiping action. One can argue whether Apple's patent should be allowed or not, but this one is 10,000x more broad.

  2. ElReg!comments!Pierre

    AAARGH head hurts

    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?

    1. ElReg!comments!Pierre

      Re: AAARGH head hurts

      * Apple in this case, but the logic also applies to many other would-be cartel with major political and financial leverage, of course.

  3. LeoP

    Ah ja.

    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"

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