Apple didn't even invent that, and Android's default "slide to unlock" gesture does not even infringe on Apple's patent.
Really?
Apple's "Slide to Unlock" patent was, and is, one of the most useful breakthroughs in cellphone technology.
First off, do you remember how miserably difficult it was to unlock a new phone? You had to remember which buttons - or more precisely which
combination of buttons to push. And there was no intuitive guide to give you a hint as to how to do it. You just sort of stab randomly at the various phone-shaped icons until the thing comes to life, hopefully without speed-dialling a Bolivian phone-sex line along the way.
If you actually bother to read Apple's Patent, they specifically cite the Neonode in their references. But the Neonode, while using a swiping action on a touch screen, lacks the
important bit.: The visual path, and sliding button, with sound, that a) tells you what to do, and b) gives you feedback that you're doing the right thing.
So: No, Apple didn't invent "swiping your finger on a screen to unlock your phone". They DID invent a "system that gives visual and auditory hints and feedback that makes it much, much easier for normal humans to figure out how to unlock their touchscreen smartphone."
And thats what Android ripped off, even if some cheese gobbling numbskull of a Dutch judge can't understand it.
