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Samsung's Never-Ending Battle With Apple Over 'Slide to Unlock' May be Headed to Supreme Court

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A longstanding lawsuit between Apple and Samsung over "Slide to Unlock" may be headed to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Samsung has until March 29 to file a petition for a writ of certiorari, aka a request for Supreme Court review, per FOSS Patents.

If it accepts the case, the Supreme Court will review the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's decision to reinstate Apple's $119.6 million award last October.

Apple successfully argued that Samsung copied its patents related to slide to unlock, autocorrect, and phone number detection.

The lawsuit is so old that Apple does not even use "Slide to Unlock" anymore. Unlocking an iPhone on iOS 10 requires using Touch ID or pressing down on the Home button, which first brings up the passcode screen if you have one enabled. Swiping to the right now brings up a collection of Lock screen widgets.

This case is not to be confused with another 2011 lawsuit in which Apple accused Samsung of copying the iPhone's design with its own Galaxy-branded smartphones. That larger case made it all the way to the Supreme Court and is now headed back to the same San Jose district court where it began for a possible damages retrial.

Article Link: Samsung's Never-Ending Battle With Apple Over 'Slide to Unlock' May be Headed to Supreme Court
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/02/24/apple-vs-samsung-slide-to-unlock-supreme-court/
bluespark said:
I really miss slide-to-unlock. I still have to actively think about pressing the button after doing the Touch ID, while slide-to-unlock seemed completely intuitive.
Click to expand...
Same here. Half the time, I invoke Apple Pay instead, or, if I want to look at my notifications screen, I wind up unlocking it because I left my finger on too long or too hard or whatever.
 
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"slide to unlock" dates back to a time where Apple actually was the undisputed leader and driving force in smartphone innovation.

I fail to see that nowadays and never understood why something so basic is worthy of being patented in the first place.

I always had the impression that the Supreme Court was an institution to rule over important federal matters or watch over the legitimacy of laws and ensure constitutional rights, but I must have been wrong.
 
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Good!!!! Then they can see how Apple BLATANTLY stole the idea from Neonode that had it years before Apple and we can all move on. I thought this patent was going to be made void from Apple because of the Neonode prior art?

Watch from 4 minutes:


And this phone was out about 2 YEARS before the first iPhone.. yet Apple kept banging on about their patent.
 
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emm386 said:
I fail to see that nowadays and never understood why something so basic is worthy of being patented in the first place.
Click to expand...

It's always the same old story; Coming up with something new, may it be "basic", is worthy of being patented. Copying, however, requires no creativity whatsoever.

And the fact that slide to unlock seems so intuitive, isn't exactly that what makes it so special? If it were so straightforward, how come no one else has managed to come up with that idea before? And why should, being the first to implement it, not be rewarded for it?
 
LinusR said:
It's always the same old story; Coming up with something new, may it be "basic", is worthy of being patented. Copying, however, requires no creativity whatsoever.

And the fact that slide to unlock seems so intuitive, isn't exactly that what makes it so special? If it were so straightforward, how come no one else has managed to come up with that idea before? And why should, being the first to implement it, not be rewarded for it?
Click to expand...

Because Apple was NOT THE FIRST to come out with the idea! They stole it.
 
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LinusR said:
It's always the same old story; Coming up with something new, may it be "basic", is worthy of being patented. Copying, however, requires no creativity whatsoever.

And the fact that slide to unlock seems so intuitive, isn't exactly that what makes it so special? If it were so straightforward, how come no one else has managed to come up with that idea before? And why should, being the first to implement it, not be rewarded for it?
Click to expand...
Apple's lawyers would not be calling you as a witness. :D:p Samsung lawyers might though.;)
 
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This is beyond getting old. I really hope the USSC just says "Eff you all." and tosses this out and this just ends.
 
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Maybe if it weren't for those thieving bastards at SAMSUNG we'd still have "Slide to unlock"

Stupid "Press Home to open". :( "Slide to unlock", you were just so fast and convienient. Gone but not forgotten!
 
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coolfactor said:
Slide to Unlock really was one of those "wow!" features in the original iPhone. It was like blending physical controls with a digital surface. Nowadays, it's so insignificant.
Click to expand...

and (at least for me) it totally eliminated "butt dialing." I loved it. As someone who doesn't care about lock screen widgets I'd like a setting to bring it back.
 
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apolloa said:
Good!!!! Then they can see how Apple BLATANTLY stole the idea from Neonode that had it years before Apple and we can all move on. I thought this patent was going to be made void from Apple because of the Neonode prior art?

Watch from 4 minutes:


And this phone was out about 2 YEARS before the first iPhone.. yet Apple kept banging on about their patent.
Click to expand...
Thank you for injecting some history into the article!
 
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farewelwilliams said:
i don't miss slide to unlock. couldn't tell you how many times i tried slide to unlock too fast on an ipad and it didn't unlock. lot's of people had the same issue.
Click to expand...
We've been on iOS 10 awhile now. The new method of unlocking a device takes me longer, on average, than slide to unlock did. Granted we're still talking very small amounts of time either way, but I hate the new method no matter how minuscule that added delay is because I know there is another way that was both easier and faster.
 
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