Key Claim of Apple's 'Rubber Banding' Patent Once Again Found Invalid by U.S. Patent Office

MacRumors · Apr 2, 2013, 10:52 AM

Last October, a court filing in the U.S. lawsuit between Apple and Samsung revealed that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) had issued a preliminary decision ruling that all of 20 claims of Apple's "rubber banding" patent were invalid.

The patent, which addresses the ability for content displayed on iOS devices to "bounce back" when the user scrolls to the top or bottom of the page, had been successfully used by Apple in its lawsuit against Samsung that yielded a $1 billion judgment.

At the time, we noted that the decision by the USPTO was merely a preliminary one and that it would be revisited in numerous other reviews and appeals as Apple continued to plead its case. FOSS Patents now notes that Samsung has filed another court document revealing that the agency has followed up with a new decision reviving three claims from Apple's patent but once again rejecting the other 17 claims, including the key one used against Samsung.

Quote:

The latest decision, which according to Samsung was published by the patent office "on or after March 29", is a final Office action -- which gives it more weight than the first one, but "final" isn't really final in this process as I'll discuss further below. [...]

Apple now has two months (which can be extended) to respond. Again, the word "final" sounds more definitive than this really is. Sometimes the Central Reexamination Unit reconsiders such "final" decisions. Even if it doesn't, this "final" rejection can and certainly will be appealed to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), sort of an appellate division within the USPTO. The PTAB can make a final decision as far as the USPTO is concerned, but frequently remands a matter to the Central Reexamination Unit. And a final-final USPTO decision can then be appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. It will take years before a truly final decision on the validity of this patent issues.

The validity of the rubber banding patent is just one of the difficulties facing Apple as the $1 billion verdict against Samsung continues to be challenged. Last month, Judge Lucy Koh voided nearly half of the judgment due to a jury error that made it impossible for corrected damages to be calculated for the affected devices and patents. As a result, Koh ruled that a new trial must be held to establish correct damages for those devices, with the result potentially including either a smaller or larger award for Apple. Samsung is of course also seeking to appeal the judgment in its entirety, with Apple and Samsung arguing over whether the appeal or the new trial addressing corrected damages should proceed first.

Article Link: Key Claim of Apple's 'Rubber Banding' Patent Once Again Found Invalid by U.S. Patent Office

Schmitty11 · Apr 2, 2013, 10:54 AM

Time for Apple to sue the United States Patent Office....

Hexiii · Apr 2, 2013, 10:57 AM

Well.. I must say that rubber banding is the best feature in iOS

- it seems so much fluider...

bwillwall · Apr 2, 2013, 10:58 AM

********, they had it first. I had never seen it until I saw it on the first iPhone.

Squilly · Apr 2, 2013, 10:58 AM

Interesting. Although, chances are Apple and Samsung have both spent over $1 billion on legal finances.

Tankmaze · Apr 2, 2013, 11:00 AM

clearly touchscreen and multitouch concept was conceive before the iPhone launch. but the rubber band thingy, that is definitely Apple.

SirYossi · Apr 2, 2013, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schmitty11

Time for Apple to sue the United States Patent Office....

what is the point of the US Patent Office anyhow - i think it is getting outdated or they need to change how they look at things. like most of the gvt it is stuck in the 50 and 60s. I thought the Patent Office was there to protect US companies not sell then out to the Asians? No wonder no TVs ect are made in the USA anymore the govt makes it impossible for them to do so. Time for the US gvt to make some changes and get there heads out of there bums. If the US wants to make the US a viable market again then it needs to do some reforms to keep businesses in the US rather then driving them out - unless that is what the gvt really wants to do?

Nightarchaon · Apr 2, 2013, 11:02 AM

And apples stock falls again as another of its "key patents" fails to stick.

Time for apple to sue the Patent office ?

or perhaps time for apple to stop Patent Trolling to get its competitors products out of the way and get back to innovating its products so they sell on their own merits.

i remember a time when apples products stood out from the competitors, and they released new, fresh improvements that were one step ahead of the competition, now it seems everyone else is 10 steps ahead and apple are stuck in the corner eating paste with glitter on it.

Less of Sir Ives -"lets make it thinner and shiny-er", more technical enhancements and disruptive new features, please apple (including a little door that gives the magical ability to swap out the memory and HDD on your products again, THAT would be a disruptive change)

uknowimright · Apr 2, 2013, 11:02 AM

cue the price is right fail horn

thedeejay · Apr 2, 2013, 11:03 AM

Inb4 apple loses

lars666 · Apr 2, 2013, 11:03 AM

Man, slowly, but surely I really would love a "law/patent section" separated from the main page like somebody else in another thread suggested...

AlphaVictor87 · Apr 2, 2013, 11:03 AM

Patent's are just pissing me off. Apple just needs to let stuff go. If someone could get confused that they are holding an apple phone or not because of a "rubber banding" effect...

i feel sorry for them... and apple i guess...

this is all just annoying to keep reading about.

EDIT:

Quote:

Originally Posted by lars666

Man, slowly, but surely I really would love a "law section" separated from the main page like somebody else in another thread suggested...

YES i agree...

and keep it off the front page.

Nightarchaon · Apr 2, 2013, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tankmaze

clearly touchscreen and multitouch concept was conceive before the iPhone launch. but the rubber band thingy, that is definitely Apple.

the rubber band thing used to happen in Amiga OS 3.1 (maybe even earlier) when you scrolled to the bottom of a window in some software, its been around for years

Popeye206 · Apr 2, 2013, 11:03 AM

And here comes all the armchair lawyers with their expert opinions. Time for popcorn.

camnchar · Apr 2, 2013, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwillwall

********, they had it first. I had never seen it until I saw it on the first iPhone.

Right, it's only obvious in retrospect because it's such a good idea.

Oletros · Apr 2, 2013, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirYossi

I thought the Patent Office was there to protect US companies not sell then out to the Asians?

Then you have thought wrong.

The Phazer · Apr 2, 2013, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camnchar

Right, it's only obvious in retrospect because it's such a good idea.

And because it was invented before many of the posters in this thread were born.

SirYossi · Apr 2, 2013, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schmitty11

Time for Apple to sue the United States Patent Office....

I think once Samsung starts using its own OS platform - rumored by end of this year or early next year that Samsung will sue Android for the same thing?

DisMyMac · Apr 2, 2013, 11:05 AM

Countries use companies to make war with each other... Companies use countries to sell their devices showing false pictures of Mankind... What is to be done about this?

Oletros · Apr 2, 2013, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tankmaze

clearly touchscreen and multitouch concept was conceive before the iPhone launch. but the rubber band thingy, that is definitely Apple.

According to the prior art, no

Popeye206 · Apr 2, 2013, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlphaVictor87

Patent's are just pissing me off. Apple just needs to let stuff go. If someone could get confused that they are not holding an apple phone because of a "rubber banding" effect...

i feel sorry for them... and apple i guess...

this is all just annoying to keep reading about.

Hummmm... and don't you think the iPhone 1.0 was a truly unique approach to smart phones?

If so... which I can't imagine how anyone could argue it wasn't... but if so, then given the purpose of patents - to protect innovation and inventors - don't you think it's sad that Apple has not been able to protect the design and functions of the iPhone... a product that truly changes the course of the phone industry?

Oletros · Apr 2, 2013, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirYossi

I think once Samsung starts using its own OS platform - rumored by end of this year or early next year that Samsung will sue Android for the same thing?

Samsung has been using its own OS since years ago and Tizen is not Samsung own OS. I think what you have to inform a little better.

GoCubsGo · Apr 2, 2013, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwillwall

********, they had it first. I had never seen it until I saw it on the first iPhone.

That doesn't mean it didn't exist. Come on now.

Oohara · Apr 2, 2013, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacRumors

Sometimes the Central Reexamination Unit reconsiders such "final" decisions. Even if it doesn't, this "final" rejection can and certainly will be appealed to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), sort of an appellate division within the USPTO. The PTAB can make a final decision as far as the USPTO is concerned, but frequently remands a matter to the Central Reexamination Unit. And a final-final USPTO decision can then be appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. It will take years before a truly final decision on the validity of this patent issues.

This line sounds like it's still April 1st. Seriously, it's like a line out of "Brazil"

aerok · Apr 2, 2013, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jessica.

That doesn't mean it didn't exist. Come on now.

Maybe he is the all seeing eye, like Sauron

Apr 2, 2013, 10:54 AM	#2
Schmitty11 macrumors 6502 Join Date: May 2011	Time for Apple to sue the United States Patent Office....
	25

Apr 2, 2013, 11:00 AM	#6
Tankmaze macrumors 6502a Join Date: Mar 2012	clearly touchscreen and multitouch concept was conceive before the iPhone launch. but the rubber band thingy, that is definitely Apple. __________________ Check out our game Tank Maze
	13

Apr 2, 2013, 11:02 AM	#8
Nightarchaon macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2010	And apples stock falls again as another of its "key patents" fails to stick. Time for apple to sue the Patent office ? or perhaps time for apple to stop Patent Trolling to get its competitors products out of the way and get back to innovating its products so they sell on their own merits. i remember a time when apples products stood out from the competitors, and they released new, fresh improvements that were one step ahead of the competition, now it seems everyone else is 10 steps ahead and apple are stuck in the corner eating paste with glitter on it. Less of Sir Ives -"lets make it thinner and shiny-er", more technical enhancements and disruptive new features, please apple (including a little door that gives the magical ability to swap out the memory and HDD on your products again, THAT would be a disruptive change) __________________ MacBook Pro/iPad Mini/TV1/iMac/iPhone5
	14

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Apr 2, 2013, 10:57 AM	#3
Hexiii macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Prague, Czech Republic	Well.. I must say that rubber banding is the best feature in iOS - it seems so much fluider...
	10

Apr 2, 2013, 10:58 AM	#4
bwillwall macrumors 6502 Join Date: Dec 2009	********, they had it first. I had never seen it until I saw it on the first iPhone.
	17

Apr 2, 2013, 10:58 AM	#5
Squilly In Time-Out Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: PA	Interesting. Although, chances are Apple and Samsung have both spent over $1 billion on legal finances.
	0

Apr 2, 2013, 11:02 AM	#9
uknowimright macrumors 6502a Join Date: Dec 2011	cue the price is right fail horn
	5

Apr 2, 2013, 11:03 AM	#10
thedeejay macrumors regular Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Canada	Inb4 apple loses
	0

Apr 2, 2013, 11:03 AM	#11
lars666 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jul 2008	Man, slowly, but surely I really would love a "law/patent section" separated from the main page like somebody else in another thread suggested...
	3

Apr 2, 2013, 11:03 AM	#14
Popeye206 macrumors 68020 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: NE PA USA	And here comes all the armchair lawyers with their expert opinions. Time for popcorn.
	11

Apr 2, 2013, 11:05 AM	#19
DisMyMac macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2009	Countries use companies to make war with each other... Companies use countries to sell their devices showing false pictures of Mankind... What is to be done about this?
	0