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Scary Smartphone Motion Control Patent Granted

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the can-i-patent-the-reuben dept.

An anonymous reader writes "On March 16th, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a very broad patent on motion control in computing devices, one that seems to cover any smartphone that uses a built-in accelerometer. It was filed in July 2006 and preceded by a nearly identical patent granted in 2004 after a 2001 application. So it predates many of today's popular smartphones — the iPhone, the DROID, the Nexus One, etc. What will happen if the company that owns the patent asserts it?"

10 of 163 comments (clear)

  1. To hack a patent... by alain94040 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Here's how you hack a patent. From claim 1:

    wherein the initial motion meets or exceeds an initial motion threshold; sensing a complementary motion of said computer device in a reverse direction to the initial direction

    As long as the iPhone or Android do not use one threshold and are more generic than detecting reverse direction, they do not infringe on that patent. Whoever wrote that claim made it way too specific, and easy to work around it.

    --
    co-founders wanted.

    1. Re:To hack a patent... by nicolas.kassis · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah that lawyer was a newb. The other patent trolls around the world are laughing and using your comments to generalize the next patent app for this very feature.

    2. Re:To hack a patent... by nkh · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Oh noes, they only claimed their invention...whatever shall they do???

      You call it an invention, I call it an algorithm.

    3. Re:To hack a patent... by Mindcontrolled · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Exactly right. Could at least the editors read the claims before posting nonsense like "cover any smartphone with built-in accelerometer"? This patent is not overly broad in any sense. It may be obvious - accelerometers are known, forward-back mousgestures are known, so the combination might lead the man skilled in the art to the subject matter of claim 1, but this patent in no way threatens "any smartphone".

      --
      Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
    4. Re:To hack a patent... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Unfortunately, algorithms are often dictated by mathematical properties of the world we are living in. When two people solve the same mathematical problem, it's not all too surprising that they tend to arrive at the same solution.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    5. Re:To hack a patent... by Mindcontrolled · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Note that the claim defines a "complementary threshold" for the forward and reverse motion respectively. So it already claims two thresholds which may, or may be not identical. Contrary to popular belief, the language of claims is actually quite precise and not made for obfuscation. It might seem obfuscated at the first glance, but so would a "Hello World" program in C to someone who only knows BASIC: "What the fuck is all this int main... crap about when a simple 10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD" would do?". You gotta learn the language.

      --
      Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
  2. What about inertial navigation systems? by ircmaxell · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Inertial navigation systems use accelerometers as input to a computer for controlling its output (Navigation readings, autopilots, etc), and have been used in (civilian and military) aviation for decades. Doesn't that negate this patent as prior art? Or can you now patent the application of an idea to a market? Or am I misunderstanding how vague this patent is?

    --
    If a man isn't willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he's no good
  3. I'd claim my pedometer as prior art. by Myrv · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I had a pedometer in the 90s that used motion to record events, each motion event would trigger an update on the display, it was hand held when reading the display, and it was a computing device that would calculate distance traveled (not to mention history). Sounds like it covers just about every aspect of that patent.
     

  4. Scary smartphone motion by Captain+Spam · · Score: 4, Funny

    When I first read the headline, I was expecting to read about a new phone with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard wherein the slide-out mechanism moves in a manner akin to Lovecraftian abominations, defying our understanding of the laws of physics and driving people irrevocably mad from the revelations, all while trying to text their friends.

    But disappointingly, it's the PATENT that's scary, not the smartphone motion. Ah, well. I'll just have to find some other way to get those dang texting kids off my lawn.

    --
    Demanding constant attention will only lead to attention.
  5. Motion by BoRegardless · · Score: 3, Informative

    "What will happen if the company that owns the patent asserts it?"

    Easy answer. Negotiations will start.

    Patent lawyers will sit down and debate the issues.

    They will either agree and buy or license the patent or litigate and then win or pay a license fee.

    Happens all the time.