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Steve Jobs iPhone Keynote Invalidates Apple's Rubber-Banding Patent in Germany

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A German court has invalidated an Apple patent on a specific "rubber-banding" feature in iOS because it was demonstrated in Steve Jobs' iPhone introduction keynote in 2007, reports FOSS Patents.

In the United States, inventors are allowed a twelve-month grace period between any public demonstrations of a new technology and the filing of a patent. However, Europe has no such grace period and public demonstrations prior to the filing of a patent -- even by the inventor of the technology being patented -- can be used as prior art to invalidate a patent. A subtle demonstration of the rubber-banding technology is barely noticeable at 33:40 in this video.

In this case, Steve Jobs demonstrated the rubber-banding technology at the launch of the iPhone in January of 2007 and Apple applied for the German patent on the technology after that date. As a result, Apple's patent was dismissed because of its own prior art.
The Munich-based Bundespatentgericht (Federal Patent Court of Germany) today sided with Samsung and Google's Motorola Mobility in declaring an Apple iPhone patent, EP2059868 on a "portable electronic device for photo management", invalid within the borders of Germany because a video of the original January 2007 iPhone presentation already showed the famous bounce-back effect in the photo gallery, which is what this patent is all about. The court also rejected various amended claims proposed by Apple, which were an attempt to distinguish the patent from what was shown in the video, because it found them to be, at best, obvious over the Steve Jobs video, which Google's lawyers from the Quinn Emanuel firm submitted to the court in April 2013. In other words, even an amended version of the patent would be trivial, but not over what others created before -- only over Apple's own public demo.
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Apple can appeal the decision, and FOSS Patents has much more on the patent and some related lawsuits and claims.

Another rubber-banding patent was used extensively in the billion-dollar jury trial between Apple and Samsung, though that trial is still going through a lengthy appeals process.

Article Link: Steve Jobs iPhone Keynote Invalidates Apple's Rubber-Banding Patent in Germany
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/09/27/steve-jobs-iphone-keynote-invalidates-rubber-banding-patent-in-germany/
Sorry - there's something funny about Apple's patent being invalidated by themselves.

Where's the Delorean so we can fix this?
 
osx64.jpg
 
Wow, nice technicality.

BUT, if those are the rules in Germany; you should abide by them. Doesn't invalidate the patent in other countries though.
 
And the lawyers get richer.

Seriously though, what's samusngs argument? We saw Steve's demo in 2007 and thought that's cool let's copy that or did they just spend hours trolling through apple's keynotes find ways to break patients.
 
wackymacky said:
And the lawyers get richer.

Seriously though, what's samusngs argument? We saw Steve's demo in 2007 and thought that's cool let's copy that or did they just spend hours trolling through apple's keynotes find ways to break patients.
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Isn't that what Apple did with GUI, Mouse, etc?
 
That is a ridiculous ruling. How can your own prior art work against you? But a patent on rubber-banding is pretty ridiculous as well.
 
CylonGlitch said:
Wow, nice technicality.

BUT, if those are the rules in Germany; you should abide by them. Doesn't invalidate the patent in other countries though.
Click to expand...

While true, technically speaking the patent laws of many European countries are subject to the same rules, based on the European Patent Convention. This could potentially be an interesting decision for other European countries too. And it makes sense, the law states that something becomes state of the art once made public, and if not preceded by an application, detrimental to a patent. It is irrelevant whether Apple invented it, once the invention is shown to the public, the idea is not 'new' anymore.
 
Just thought of something else. Apple doesn't allow anyone else to video their Keynotes. They then put them up on their website.

So, not only did Apple invalidate their patent by showing it at the Keynote before applying for the patent (in Germany); they also supplied the evidence against themselves!

Talk about an OOPS!

EDIT : Sorry, but this is a mistake for Apple. I have several patents and I know better than to show my ideas before applying; I just don't, not even in the US because I don't want to risk invalidating the patent. It's quite clear that this is how things work, it's a common practice. Apple screwed up on this one and now, at least in Germany, they'll pay the price since they can't get royalties on their idea.
 
And you wonder why the Europeans are so backwards. Case and point. It may be the law and Apple should have known and followed. But just because it is the law, doesn't mean it should be the law. What can you do but laugh at the fools.
 
Where is the rubber banding part of the video? I don't see anything at 33:40. Just the photo moving across to the edge of the frame. Confused.

If that IS the evidence - it is pretty weak.
 
"More suits, less filling"

This applies to all the tech companies filing patent infringement and IP suits. Makes lawyers happy while slightly hindering technological advancement(s).

IP/Patent law is the new "Investment Banker"
 
wackymacky said:
And the lawyers get richer.

Seriously though, what's samusngs argument? We saw Steve's demo in 2007 and thought that's cool let's copy that or did they just spend hours trolling through apple's keynotes find ways to break patients.
Click to expand...

Samsung must truly be evil if they're going to break patients.
 
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