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Micron Lands Broad "Slide To Unlock" Patent

Posted by timothy on from the is-it-malice-blindness-or-incompetence dept.

Zordak writes "Micron has recently landed U.S. Patent 8,352,745, which claims priority back to a February 2000 application---well before Apple's 2004 slide-to-unlock application. While claim construction is a highly technical art, the claims here are (for once) almost as broad as they sound, and may cover the bulk of touch screen smart phones on the market today. Dennis Crouch's Patently-O has a discussion."

1 of 211 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The USPTO is holding roundtables by Dr_Barnowl · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Indeed.

    Swipe to unlock for doors == a bolt.

    Swipe to unlock for GUI == ?

    Patenting GUI analogs of physical devices is an oxymoron - you're copying a user interface that already exists. The very reason you made that analog in a piece of software is because it ISN'T a new and innovative idea. It's familiar and obvious to people or there would be no point.

    If you want to patent UI metaphors, you should first demonstrate that no-one understands how to use it without first reading the manual.