He simply meant that they've submitted patents regarding it, which they did. Quite a few.
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Apple Wins Broad Patent on iPhone Multi-Touch User Interface
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He simply meant that they've submitted patents regarding it, which they did. Quite a few.
They had filed a lot of patent applications. It takes several years from when you file an application until you get a patent issued by the USPTO (or other international patent agency). And, along the way, you may decide there is no way the USPTO will ever agree to allow your patent claims, in which case you might give up.
True...
I was referring to the interactions on the screen in Minority Report against the claims made about multitouch in general. Not this patent specifically.
Some of the interactions were pretty detailed.
So much so that input/actions/gestures and results could be derived.
A programmer with knowledge of coding a multitouch interface should be able to reproduce it.
As much as I don't like the idea of software patents, this is legitimate, but I'm not so certain that the patent should go to Apple.
Jeff Han, while doing research at NYU produced several multitouch prototype systems, demonstrating many of the gestures we all take for granted today. His company, Perceptive Pixel produces multitouch products today. I'm not sure who shipped the first commercial product, but I'm nearly 100% certain that Han's research group was the first to invent the tech.
Apple deserves a lot of credit for making this tech small and cheap enough to cram into mass-market devices, but they didn't invent it.
Jeff Han, while doing research at NYU produced several multitouch prototype systems, demonstrating many of the gestures we all take for granted today. His company, Perceptive Pixel produces multitouch products today. I'm not sure who shipped the first commercial product, but I'm nearly 100% certain that Han's research group was the first to invent the tech.
Apple deserves a lot of credit for making this tech small and cheap enough to cram into mass-market devices, but they didn't invent it.
The patent is not to destroy the other companies who are making devices that infringe on the patent. It is in place so they can attempt to make those companies pay royalties to Apple for every smartphone they sell.
It's a matter for the Markman hearing. If a zoom changes the effective origin of the view it might be a translation within the meaning of the patent - a patentee is entitled to be his own lexicographer. I'm not going to read the entire specification to figure out what the proper construction of "translate" is
I'm a longtime computer graphics programmer. "Translate" means moving along an axis. Everything in the patent, from abstract to description, makes it clear that it's about XY scrolling.
E.g. "In some embodiments, translating the page content comprises translating the page content in a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal direction."
And it was so obvious in 2007 before the iphone?
Rolling eyes alone does not make a valid debate point. Let's try facts:
The patent has references to previous patents about both single and multiple finger scrolling. So the idea of being able to use a combination of m and n number of fingers for such gestures is well known.
Heck, Google currently uses two fingers to do a 3D view transformation within their Map frame.
Since using a different number of fingers to accomplish a different action is the whole point of multi-touch, I'm astonished that the PTO would even consider allowing a submission of what is actually just a gesture vocabulary.
Cmaier, that's all this is. No method. Just a vocabulary. How is that patentable?
Your citation proves my point. "in some embodiments" means that there are other embodiments in which that is not true.
those other embodiments need not be disclosed in any detail if they would be apparent to someone having ordinary skill in the art.
In any event, I assure you that the language you just cited is enough to let a patent attorney argue with a straight face that translation need not be limited to shifting of origin, and may also apply to scaling, rotation, etc. This argument may or may not win, but the lawyer making it won't be thrown out of court for suggesting it
. (of course there may be something else in there that limits translation to mean what it ordinarily means- i am just saying that the quote you provided does the opposite)
Yep, I absolutely understood that, but I quoted it anyway because Apple is usually pretty darned good at writing up all the various embodiments that they want to cover
Therefore I think they were purposely avoiding talking about other types of graphics transformations than just translations. Otherwise they would have used "transformations" rather than "translations", as they have specific meanings to those of us experienced in the art, and translation is a subset of transformation.
I think they might've also been purposely avoiding stepping on, for example, Google's toes, since they already use two fingers to do something special on their maps. Otherwise the objections to this patent could be even louder.
Hmm...
I don't have a problem with most of comments to be honest. He does make some good points. But on other occasions, I feel like:
Of course Android has copied the hell out of the iPhone. What's interesting ot me is how much cash has HTC/Samsung racked in via their Android offerings over the last 2+ years compared to Apple. Sure they're 100% copycats but their margins are pretty thin and based on my reading of the profit reports, Apple gets like 80% of smartphone profits.
Just the idea of using different multiples of fingers should not be patentable. There's no method involved here; it's just a gesture vocabulary.
Han, like Apple, took advantage of today's hardware to implement old ideas.
Multitouch goes way back. Read "Multitouch Systems that I have Known and Loved" and "A First Look at the iPhone Experience".
Cheers!
But Apple was the first to patent it for tablet form factor and they should win it.
First to patent what?
Tablets have nothing to do with this thread.
This patent is about using a different number of fingers to scroll a window enclosed in a window.
Can someone explain to me how Android can use multitouch when it's copywritten by Apple?
1) there's a huge difference between copyright and patent
1a) this has nothing to do with copyright
2) Apple does not own the patent on multitouch