According to the US Patent Office Apple was awarded patent number 7,479,949 on January 20, 2009. The patent which was filed on April 11, 2008 covers multi-touch and all associated gestures such as pinch, swipe and rotation.
The patent is titled:
Touch screen device, method, and graphical user interface for determining commands by applying heuristics
The initial patent abstract is as follows:
A computer-implemented method for use in conjunction with a computing device with a touch screen display comprises: detecting one or more finger contacts with the touch screen display, applying one or more heuristics to the one or more finger contacts to determine a command for the device, and processing the command. The one or more heuristics comprise: a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a one-dimensional vertical screen scrolling command, a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a two-dimensional screen translation command, and a heuristic for determining that the one or more finger contacts correspond to a command to transition from displaying a respective item in a set of items to displaying a next item in the set of items.
Steve Jobs and Scott Forstall are just some of the names listed in the inventors list
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Andres Kievsky
27th January 2009, 10.27 am
This patent, like most software patents, is unethical; and also it’s not really novel enough to warrant a patent. Just another way to control innovation; Apple is quickly becoming the new Microsoft.
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Robert
27th January 2009, 15.11 pm
I agree. Apple is quickly becoming the new Microsoft. It’s making me think twice about buy more products from them to avoid having “everything apple” and getting burned like I did years ago when Microsoft took advantage of their monopoly.
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Andre Malan
27th January 2009, 15.46 pm
I don’t get it. Wasn’t Jeff Han doing multi-touch heuristics (and presenting it to the world years before the iPhone? http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jeff_han_demos_his_breakthrough_touchscreen.html) If so Apple’s patent should be null and void.
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Farris
27th January 2009, 21.08 pm
So what does this mean for Microsoft Surface? Doesn’t that also use a multi-touch interface?
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Antonio Azarro
27th January 2009, 22.02 pm
Actually Bill Buxton and others did multitouch way back in the 80’s, so really nothing new. Jeff Han and Apple just popularized it.
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craig musselman
27th January 2009, 22.24 pm
Um…this concept has already been invented.
Perhaps a particular algorithm, is patentable, but not the concept of using fingers to make a computer accept input by movement.
1. gene roddenberry Star trek
http://www.trekcon.de/fedcon/2006/Intro/console.jpg
2. Independence day docking tracking screen
3. jetsons menu system
4. AI (artificial intelligence) movie
5. minority report
6. children of men
7. Predator
as well as hundreds of sci fi novels.
rather large amount of chutzpuh to claim inventing this concept. the patent office is not doing it’s job.
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Max
28th January 2009, 05.35 am
Ithink that this is just the thing that apple needed to do. The multi-touch gesture such as pinch are a brilliant feat of engenering and I think that apple needs to protect one of it’s best inventions.
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Mike Ratcliffe
1st February 2009, 16.19 pm
Cool idea, I might get a patent on the alphabet, input fields, scroll bars and pixels. I use them often so it is my right to get a patent ;o)
Seriously, they may want to protect the particular way they use multitouch but it is such a useful technology I can’t see them being successful. Software has a limited number of possibilities and I think that software patents are pointless, they just don’t work without giving a corporation too much of a competitive advantage.
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